New Beginnings
by Wibbilywobbilytimeywimey
Summary: Story starting where Rose and Tentoo left off. Will they get the "forever" Rose promised the Doctor so long ago?
1. Chapter 1

Hi! So excited to be posting my very first story and I hope you like it.

This chapter is just about Tentoo consoling Rose after Ten and Donna have left. He is also trying to convince her that he is also the Doctor.

Please leave reviews so that I can get better! I am not Moffat after all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its affiliations. I know, what a shocker!

Chapter 1

As the TARDIS disappeared into thin air, Rose let go of her new Doctor's hand and crouched over the spot the machine last stood.

"No," she whispered gently, "No. How could he just..." But her voice trailed off before she could finish.

The new human-time lord stared at the woman he loved. The woman he could now spend the rest of his life with. He seemed to float over and sit right next to her. For a moment the only thing breaking the silence was Rose's quiet sobbing. Then the Doctor spoke.

"Rose, he's gone now but-"

"How could he do that to me. How could he just leave me here. I found him. We could have traveled the universe. He could have had me again and he just turned me down," Rose interrupted.

"No Rose. He never would have done this to you. Never to you. He did this for you. He gave you a life with himself that he could never have. He gave you himself to make you happy by walking away. Rose, I'm the same man as him and I don't even know if I could do that."

Rose stared at the sand for a moment before replying. "But what about him? I saw the pain on his face. What happens to him now. I can't hold his hand and make it better."

The Doctor smiled a bit at Rose and stroked the hair out of her face. That golden hair he never thought he would ever see again.

"You have to trust me when I say it'll be okay. When he- when we- when I lost you that day at canary wolf, I never thought I would be able to move on. I thought I had just lost everything. And in a way I did. But it got better. It got easier. Everyday was painful but the pain went away bit by bit. I never got over it, though. Even now while I'm sitting here with you, I'm still not over it in a way. But I got to a point where it was almost okay. Rose, he will be able to do it again. But now it's easier for him because at least he knows that you're happy and that will give him the strength he needs. Because he can be happy knowing just that."

Rose now really looked at the man who sat with her. She examined his face, moving her eyes up and down, sometimes stopping to see if something was really there.

"God. I know it's you, Doctor. I know that you are him. I can see it. I can just tell. But it doesn't feel right. I just can't- it's like a part of me is just refusing your existence. That you aren't truly him," Rose admitted.

For a second, it hurt the Doctor. The woman he loved possibly not being able to love him back because she just couldn't acknowledge who he really was. He understood, alright. It was perfectly understandable for her to feel this way. But it just hurt in a way he had never felt before. Then he got on his knees in front of her and started to say something.

"It's me, Rose. It's really me. All you have is my word for it, but it really is me." He prayed that she would accept who he really was.

Her eyes once again scanned him intently and she pleaded all of two words: "prove it."

The Doctor smiled. He had a chance. He began thinking of what to say and immediately knew exactly what to do. He took her hands in his own and stared into her eyes.

"The day I lost you was one of the worst days I've had in all of my 900 plus years of life. I had to somewhat accept that I would never see you again. Ever. I couldn't cope with it for a while. In fact, when I went back to the TARDIS that day all I did was go to your room and lie with your stuff. I held those overalls you wore the day we met Queen Victoria and thought of all the good times we had had." At this he chuckled, a tad embarrassed. But he went on, trying not to stop, "Then when I sent that picture of me to say our goodbyes, I wish I could have jumped out of the hologram to wipe your tears away. But I couldn't, and that hurt. I couldn't protect you like I had promised Jackie I would. Then your picture left before I could tell you how I really felt, and both of my hearts broke again. Time passed, then I met Martha and Donna, who I'll have to tell you about later, and life almost moved on regularly. Then, that day Donna told me she saw you in her universe, I was scared but so happy. So happy that, if I got lucky enough, I would see you. So I waited, through landing on Earth and through the video calls I got from the others. When you didn't turn up I started loosing the strength I had masqueraded around with for the last few years. Then Donna saw you and I turned around, not sure of what to do if it wasn't you."

At this point, the Doctor and Rose were both in tears. It amazed himself how much pain he had actually had over the years. And Rose was shocked at how strong his feelings for her actually were. She never would have thought a man of that standard could ever feel that way about a shopgirl like her.

After a brief moment of collecting his courage again, he continued telling his story.

"But it was you. My eyes and brain didn't believe it, but it really was you Rose. All of a sudden then, my legs started to move towards you, I was running- no, sprinting, towards you. I still wasn't really sure what was happening. But then I really saw your face and I finally understood you had come back. You did the impossible just so we could see each other. When I finally understood that, I sped up my sprint. That was the fastest I have ever run in my entire life, and you know what kind of running I have to do. But I was finally going to hold you again. Tell you how I really felt. Keep you safe forever.

"Then I saw the Dalek. I stopped, trying to keep you out of its way, while trying to escape it myself. But I wasn't fast enough and it shot me right through one of my hearts. Luckily Jack got there and killed it before it could do anything else. Soon enough I saw you standing over me and I was afraid. Not of actually regenerating. I didn't want to, but it would have been easy enough. No, I was afraid that after we had just found each other again I would change and you wouldn't want me anymore. I was afraid I had lost you to myself. And yet through that, all I could do was smile at you, because I could simply see you. All I could say or think of was your name. Then you smiled and I couldn't hold back even the tiniest bit of my happiness."

The story was coming to an end, but the look of happiness on Rose's face continued. She waited until the Doctor was over to speak, not wanting to interrupt his beautiful little speech.

"Then we got on the TARDIS and I tried thinking of any way to stay the same. But it was too late, I had thought. I was already regenerating and there was no going back. Then, almost as if someone was directing me to, I looked over at the hand I lost Christmas Day and sent the energy from it to myself. It worked and I got to stay the same and be with you. Now, Rose. I know this was just a story. I could have made it up and gotten lucky or heard it somewhere, but you have to believe me when I say that I am and have always been the Doctor that you knew, that you traveled with, that you loved."

And with that the Doctor finished. He stared at Rose waiting for her to reply. But instead of speaking, she took his face and kissed him as if she had been waiting her whole life to. Then she broke away from him, smiled, and quietly laughed. The Doctor was shocked, but couldn't stop smiling either.

"It's you. It's really you, Doctor," she stroked the side of his face and whispered, "it's really you."

The Doctor couldn't speak. He was too happy for words. She loved him back and that was all that mattered.

Before Rose could react in any other way, the Doctor pulled her to his face this time and they continued kissing.

Then, when they finally needed some air and had to break apart, Rose began to chuckle.

"What?" The Doctor asked.

"My mum." Rose replied.

"Yeah what about Jackie?" The Doctor inquired.

"Well she is standing right over there," Rose said, pointing to the exact place Jackie stood, "and she looks like she's gonna kill ya."

The Doctor gulped. "Oh. Well I'm sure she can't be that mad."

The two laughed, knowing that wasn't even the slightest bit true.

All of a sudden, a voice shouted across the beach.

"Are you two done snogging then?" Jackie yelled.

The Doctor and Rose laughed even harder at the threatening tone in her question.

"I guess we should go back then. We have to face my mum at some point," Rose said, standing up and holding her hand out for the Doctor.

"Yeah, but we don't have to go back right away. Maybe in a year or so. I've only just become part human, I'd rather like to know how it is before I'm killed by your mum," he joked.

"So let me get this straight," Rose said, crossing her arms, "you can stop the Slitheen from taking over the world, save everyone from those gas mask creatures, defend a parallel universe from cyber men, and defeat the Daleks countless times, but you can't even walk up to my mum."

"Mmmmmm sounds about right I'd say."

They both laughed again and Rose pulled him up saying, "Oh just come on you little wimp."

"Yes, well I might be just that, but now I am your little wimp that you are stuck with. So, I believe a nice ha, ha, and ha are in order," the Doctor said, making fun of himself.

But Rose didn't laugh this time. Instead she put her arms around his waist, looked into his eyes, and said, "Yeah, you are. And don't you forget that."

They shared one last small kiss and walked over to the now impatient Jackie.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again! Hoped you all liked the first chapter. I don't know if I made it clear that this would be a long story so I am now. Hopefully I will be able to finish it all before Sherlock series 4 comes out by 2070.

I think this is a pretty short chapter so sorry if you think it is. Unless you like short chapters then I guess it is a good thing. It's really just a conversation between Jackie and Tentoo on their way home after Pete has picked them up.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or anything else that I have written about in here. If I did this would be a lot more than just fanfiction.

Enjoy and please leave your reviews!

Chapter 2

The next few days were spent mostly in silence. Pete had been able to pick them up and they were all traveling back to the Tyler Residence. Though Pete had tried to make conversation with the Doctor and had been very nice to him, Jackie stopped them before it could go on any further than simple questions. This annoyed Rose, but she didn't think there was anything she could do about it. Once her mother was in a mood with the Doctor, you couldn't just get her out of it.

Then, on the third and last day of their trip back home, Jackie broke the silence.

"So Doctor, what exactly are your intentions with my daughter. Now that you two can't just go galavanting across the universe."

"Mum!" Rose exclaimed.

"No Rose, hush. I need to know now," Jackie scolded. "So go on Doctor. Tell me."

"Ummm," the Doctor started not exactly knowing where to start.

"Ugh. Fat lot of good he is! Doctor what are you planning on doing with my daughter now that you two are stuck on Earth," Jackie tried again.

The Doctor cleared his head and thought. Even he hadn't really gotten that far.

"I don't exactly know Jackie," the Doctor replied, scared at the wrath she may bear.

This jerked Rose's attention over to him now. She couldn't believe he just didn't know. All of those years and he never thought or planned what he might do with her if they were stuck together on Earth. Of course she wasn't mad at him about it. After all, he had been kept pretty busy most of the time. But not even a glimmer of an idea?

The four of them could feel the tension growing in the car. But once again Jackie decided to speak up again.

"Well you have to have some sort of an idea! A job, a place to live,... A life with Rose," Jackie hesitated saying the last one.

"Mum!" Rose said indignantly. "Must we have this conversation right now?"

"It's either now or later sweetheart. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather get it over with," Jackie said. Everyone kept quiet, agreeing with her.

"Well I suppose I will have to find a job and a place to live," the Doctor started, "don't want to be on the streets."

"He can live with me mum. If that's alright with you Doctor," Rose announced.

The Doctor smiled. "It would be my pleasure Rose."

"And I'm sure you can get a job at Torchwood easily if you'd like. I'm sure that traveling and saving the universe are good enough qualifications," Rose helped.

The Doctor didn't reply right away to this. Him working for Torchwood? The institution that was made up against him? The reason why Rose was even taken away from him in the first place.

Rose knew what he was thinking and immediately added, "it's different here you know. It's better. Not as good as going around on the TARDIS I'll admit, but it's not exactly boring." The last part she whispered to him. "But it isn't the Torchwood that you are thinking of."

After thinking about it for a minute the Doctor gave in and agreed to it. It made Rose happy so he just couldn't resist. Besides, he thought, it couldn't be that bad; and if it was he could always change his mind.

The car was filled with silence again, but Jackie still wanted a complete answer to her questions.

"Well Doctor, you have answered my first and second question. But what about the third. What about Rose? Huh? What is going to happen between the two of you know? Because I have seen her hurt by you, Doctor. When we got trapped here, she was so pained. And I won't allow that to happen to her again. You promised you would keep her safe and I praise you for the fact that I still have her here with me, but is she safe now with you Doctor? And not just from you, but from anything else you two happen to cross," Jackie concluded.

To this, Rose did not stop her mother. When the Doctor looked at her, waiting for her to speak up, she was simply looking down at her lap, thinking about that terrible day and what would happen if she was left by the Doctor again.

"Jackie. I can't promise your daughter will always be safe. If I have learned anything from the years I traveled with her and my other- friends, it's that I can't make that promise, no matter how much you want to hear it and I want to say it. We will do things that are dangerous, no doubt, and we can't just ignore the fact that consequences come with that. Now, this is a whole new world to me. I know what will happen and what has happened on the other world, but for all I know dinosaurs still exist on this planet here. But my point is, I can't promise nothing bad will happen to her while she's with me and we are working, especially since I am not as sure as to what is going on here. All I can do is try my hardest, and sometimes, very rarely but sometimes, that just isn't enough."

Jackie was amazed at his honesty. Rose didn't quite know what to think of it. She had always been so sure that no matter what, her and the Doctor would come out of anything alive and together. But now, she saw that maybe that wouldn't always be so.

But the Doctor continued on, "Now as for being safe from me." He paused, worrying Rose for a moment. But he went on, "I can promise that as long as we are both alive, I will never leave her. There is nobody I'd rather be with than her. I realized that completely the day I lost her. As long as I live, I will never leave her. Unless it is necessary to her survival, which would be a very rare case that I can't even imagine. I love your daughter, Jackie, and as much as you might want to get rid of me, I am not leaving her unless it's what she wants or needs, in which case I will do it only very reluctantly. I lost her once, I don't plan on doing that again."

Rose smiled when he finished. It didn't even matter how safe she was traveling and fighting off aliens and monsters with him anymore. All that mattered to her now was how he felt about her. Jackie could see the happiness glowing on her daughter's face and turned forward, debating what to say next. But she kept quiet.  
For a change, Pete finally spoke up.

"Doctor, I can see how much you love my…my daughter," even after the two years he still had trouble calling her his true daughter, "and that you would never leave her on purpose. But what if you get hurt and... Well not to be too direct, but what if you die."

For this, the Doctor looked directly at Rose. He took her hand in his and began explaining.

"You know, I've thought a lot about that the past few days. And I figure that if something does happen to me, life still has to move on. As much as I don't want to say it, if I do die, life won't stop and everyone will have to continue on. But, I'd rather spend a week with her and die than live a hundred more years without being with her. Like I said before, I can't always protect her from other forces, and that goes for me too. But I can't just walk away because in five years something bad might happen. And I am sure that she agrees," the Doctor admitted.

Rose looked into the Doctor's glassy eyes and shed a tear. She couldn't even imagine what would happen to her if the Doctor was killed and she had to live on without him. But that didn't stop her from agreeing with him.

"Absolutely I agree," Rose said. "It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all as Shakespeare would say."

Jackie knew she couldn't keep the two of them apart. As much as she hated watching Rose risking her life with him, she could see that the two would not be separated. All Jackie could do was silently sigh and remain quiet.

The conversation was clearly over now and the four of them kept going in in silence once again.


	3. Chapter 3

So, sorry this is coming out sooo much later. I am really not good at posting things and I am really trying to space out chapters so I don't run out of stuff I have already written before I get a chance to write more. So yeah, sorry! But expect that I am going to take a long time uploading chapters at this point.

This chapter is just a scene of Tentoo and Rose at her flat after Jackie and Rose drop them off. I quite like it so I hope all of you do too. Enjoy!

As always, please leave reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or anything BBC? Because it is so obvious that I am not just stealing your show. Be a little less paranoid, gosh.

Chapter 3

After only a few more hours of complete quiet, the four had reached Rose's flat. They said their goodbyes and Jackie and Pete were on their way. Jackie tried to stay calm and nice but everyone there new it was just an act. It scared both the Doctor and Rose to think that it might always be like this, but they both new that at some point she'd turn around and everything would be alright. Hopefully that day would come sooner rather than later, though.

A bit clumsily, Rose opened the door to her flat and ushered the Doctor in. There were labeled boxes full of clothes and other items scattered about the room. Seeing the shocked look on his face, Rose quickly stepped in to explain.

"Lived here for a year and I'm still not even half unpacked. Sorry for the mess. Although, I imagine you can guess what I must have been waiting for to keep me from unpacking."

At this, the Doctor looked down at his shoes. She had been waiting for him to come rescue her, which he hadn't. But that didn't matter now. They were together and there certainly wasn't anyway he was going to change his past.

Moving on, he began stepping around the room. There wasn't much, just some chairs, a table, and a television. The only few things on the wall were a couple of messily hung posters. When he turned around, the Doctor saw something quite peculiar , though. It was a picture. Just a small one, slightly torn and folded, that could have fit in a wallet. Yet it was framed as if it were a priceless painting. Curious, he stepped forward to see what it was, but he was shocked at what he found.

It was a picture of Rose, Captain Jack, and him, before his regeneration. He stared at at it for about a minute, wondering how she had it and remembering the times they had had.

"Do you want anything to eat or-" Rose said, but she stopped when she saw what the Doctor was looking at. "I was wondering how long it'd take you to notice that."She stepped forward to him, smiling.

"Do you remember when we took it?" Rose asked.

The Doctor turned his head, breaking the sort of trance the photo put him in, and looked at Rose. "Course I do. We were just walking home from your mum's place. Interesting time that was. Never should have brought Jack home to meet her. But we were walking back to the TARDIS when this rather funny man asked if we wanted a picture. Every time I think of him he seems to get weirder, too. I mean, he looked like a 26 year old college professor, tweed jacket, bow tie, an all. But anyways, he asked and we said yes so we took it. Only had the one though, and he wanted you to have it. Guess he thought you'd need it the most. Then we went back to the TARDIS and carried on. But how do you have it? Didn't you loose it when..." He trailed off, not wanting to get into that. "No, I always carried that picture around with me in my wallet. In fact that and the TARDIS key were the only things I had left to remind me of you. Though,

I don't really know why I did. I've never carried pictures with me before then, just didn't think they were important enough. But there was something in that man telling me to keep it close to me. I don't know, I could just see it in his eyes that he knew what he was talking about..." Rose said, but then stopping, looking into her Doctor's eyes with an inquisitive look on her face. "Something about those eyes..."

"Rose?" The Doctor asked. "What's wrong?"

Snapping out of it, she replied. "Oh nothing just thinking."

For about another minute or two, they continued to look at the picture. Then Rose started talking again.

"You know, I just realized something. We are never going to see Jack again. The first time we left him, when we escaped from Satellite five, I thought he was dead, and of course I was sad but I thought I knew I'd never be able to see him again 'cause of that. But he's alive, always alive because of me, no less, and we will never get to see him again."

Seeing the pain on her face, the Doctor tried to get her hopes up and said, "oh never say never, Rose. There's always a chance."

She looked up at him, eyes wide open. "You mean there's a way we could get back? There's a possibility that we could see him again?"

The Doctor became almost solemn then. He had gotten her hopes up too high, which of course he hadn't wanted to do. Taking her hands, he continued to speak.

"No, Rose. I highly doubt we'll ever see him again. It's probably a one in 900 billion chance that we will, maybe even higher. But, since I saw you that night, I've learned that nothing is impossible. That true miracles can happen. So no, I doubt we will ever see Jack again, but don't give up. Maybe there is a way that no one has thought of yet."

Rose sighed and turned her head back to the picture. They continued to sit there a while longer. "For a while I couldn't even look at that picture, you know. For months, all I could think of was how much I missed you and how I could never see you again. For some time I couldn't even look at it without crying," she turned her head to the Doctor now. "But then I learned that I had to move on, and that all changed. Whenever I looked at it from then on it didn't make me feel sad. Instead it gave me hope that not only you would come back, but that, if you didn't, I could move on a live normally again."

"Did it?" The Doctor asked. "Did it help you move on?"

"I guess. But you can see all the boxes lying around. It obviously didn't help as much as I thought it did."

They smiled now, not knowing quite why.

"So what now, then?" The Doctor said. "What should we do?"

"I don't know. I guess we could... You know, go out?" Rose answered.

"Like, on a date?"

"Yeah, I suppose. I nice proper one at dinner that doesn't include running or hiding or anything, though," Rose answered, smiling.

As if it were contagious, the Doctor began to smile too. " I suppose so. 'Sides, I'm rather tired from running now."

"Great. Well, seeing as you don't know anything about this world, I'll just figure out what we should do. You go downstairs and sit in the lobby. I'll need time to get ready. Probably about an hour. But it'll be worth it. Okay?" Rose suggested.

"It sounds perfect, Rose Tyler," he said. After pecking her cheek with a kiss, he went down to the lobby.

Waiting a minute with the biggest grin on her face, Rose thought how well this had to go. This would be her second first impression on the Doctor and it had to be fantastic.


	4. Chapter 4

Readers! Guess what! I am back! I know it's been a long time and most if not all of you have probably given up on me, but I am finally continuing this story. Sorry for the lateness, but I had major writers block for months and have just been putting it off. But you will get a few more chapters extremely soon to make up for that.

This chapter is kind of short, but it is something that I could not not have in this story because it is the Doctor and Rose's first date! Yes very exciting! So read up!

As always, leave your reviews! So far I have only gotten one and I would love to get more. So yeah, reviews please!

Disclaimer: I don't know why I would have suddenly owned all the rights to Doctor Who, but you might have thought that I had gotten them so I am here to tell you I have not. Sorry to disapoint

Chapter 4

The Doctor was patiently waiting downstairs for Rose. Well, almost patiently. He paced back and forth, muttering to himself, thinking of how many ways he could screw up this night. Eventually he just resigned though, and went to sit on the nearest chair he could find.

Almost 50 minutes had passed since Rose told him to come downstairs and he hadn't enjoyed a single second of it. All he wanted was to be with her, no matter how she looked. But apparently that wasn't going to happen so he just continued to wait.

Almost as if fate, a flower vendor had come around and the Doctor miraculously had just enough for a nice little bouquet of lilies. With them in his hand, he went to sit down and stare at his shoes. He hoped Rose wouldn't be too much longer.

Then, as if she had read his mind, the Doctor saw Rose coming down the stairs, looking absolutely gorgeous. He had never seen her so dressed up before and already loved it. Without even knowing it, he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"What?" Rose asked, but he didn't reply. So she tried again, a bit louder, "Doctor, what is it?"

Snapping back into reality, he replied, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

A huge grin spread across his face, which then crept it's way on to Rose's. The two were as happy as could be.

"Oh I almost forgot! These," he said, holding up the flowers, "are for you."

"Why thank you Doctor. You know, while we are still here, I better put them away now. So they don't get ruined or anything. I'll be right back, okay?" She explained and ran up. Immediately when she put the flowers down, she checked herself in a mirror. She wanted to make sure everything was perfect, and that the Doctor was looking at her because of how nice she looked, not because there was a stain on her dress. After reassuring herself, she ran back downstairs to join with the Doctor once again.

"So where are we going?" The Doctor asked.

"I just figured we could walk around a bit. Get some chips, ya know, just some normal stuff. Like the old times." Rose replied, to which the Doctor agreed sounded lovely.

The walk over to get food was mostly in silence. Both were too afraid to make a mistake so they both just kept quiet. Anything could go wrong, they thought, and each of them didn't want to be the reason for that. But finally they had gotten the chips and were sitting on a bench where the silence became too awkward and the Doctor decided he would start talking.

"So, Rose Tyler, how long have you been here? I remember this world runs a bit faster than our original one."

"Uhh, I'd say about 3 years... Yeah three years next month actually." Rose answered.

"And how has it been? Living here I mean," the Doctor asked.

"Oh you know, sometimes are better than others here. I haven't really started a new life though. Mostly just been at Torchwood developing that dimension cannon. Pretty boring really. And not as much fun without you." She replied, staring at the chips in her lap. Then she felt the Doctor's hand slip into her own. She wanted to just let the tears stream down her face like they had for the past years, but now she had to stay strong.

"And what about you, Doctor?" Rose pushed on, "You must have been up to one or two things while I was gone."

"Oh, just the normal stuff. Saving worlds, interfering with history, running for my life. Like always." He said.

"Well you must have some stories to tell so don't be shy. It's not like we haven't got the time anymore," Rose smiled.

So the Doctor told her everything he had done the past two years. From Donna appearing on the TARDIS to the moment he realized they would see each other again. No detail escaped any story due to Rose's commands and the two had the best time talking about them. Every once in a while they would get sidetracked by remembering something they did or just joking around, but they always made sure to come back to the Doctor's stories. Rose found them as fascinating as any adventure they had had and wanted to make sure she knew them all well.

But eventually it started to get late and both of them realized it would probably be wise to head back to Rose's flat, where they could continue in private. So, with a little more noise than before, the couple walked back home.

When they arrived, the Doctor followed Rose into her bedroom. Unsure of what to do he just stood near the corner, waiting for Rose to come back. He had never been in this sort of situation before and had not clue as to what would happen next. Suddenly Rose walked back into the room, disrupting the Doctor's train of thought.

"Here are some pajamas you can use for the night, Doctor. Normally Pete wears them when he comes over, but I'm sure he won't mind since he's not using them at the moment. Doctor? Are you alright?"

Rose had just noticed the not-very-well hidden panic on the Doctor's face. He looked completely lost and worried.

"Yeah, he replied. "It's just... What now?"

"Well," Rose started, knowing what he meant. "Unless you want to sleep on the couch, I was thinking you could stay in here with me. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course it's okay. I'd love to. I mean, if it's not a hassle for you," he babbled on.

"Doctor, the only hassle I've had for the past few years was your absence. Now go change and come to bed with me. You haven't quite finished all of your stories yet and I want to hear them."

Smiling for what seemed to be the 100th time that day, the Doctor rushed to get into the pajamas and back to Rose.

For the next few hours and into the morning, Rose and the Doctor stayed up talking. It wasn't until very late (or very early for that matter) that all conversation ended due to Rose falling asleep. Upon realizing that she had, the Doctor kissed her forehead and went to sleep as well.


	5. Chapter 5

So like I said, right away with a few new chapters as an apology! I am not promising the rest of the story tonight though, just a few more chapters since I am a bit ahead.

This takes place right after their date, as you will find out. If you want to know anymore read the thing. I think it's a good thing. I like the thing. The thing is short though. I write short things. Sorry for the short things. And also sorry for those last few sentences, while I am at it.

PLEASE REVIEW!

Disclaimer: Pretty sure I did not obtain the rights to Doctor Who or anything BBC in the last minute. In fact I am very sure that I did not get them. They are not my rights. Still.

Chapter 5

Not even an hour after she fell asleep, Rose was awake again. The sun was beginning to rise as she tried to fall back into slumber, but she couldn't. Thoughts of what had just happened that previous day, the man beside her now and, the man back in her other universe clouded her mind. She stayed in bed, staring at the ceiling contemplating what she would do.

But she couldn't stay in bed. He was there. The Doctor, if she could even allow herself to call him by the same name as her Timelord. So she went to the small patio in the back of her flat. The fresh air felt nice on her skin and she continued thinking about what to do.

-

The Doctor woke up, stretching his arms over to the other side of the bed, expecting to find Rose. But she was nowhere to be found. With a little panic the Doctor lept up, now fully awake. He explored the little flat but was unsuccessful in finding her.

Then he saw that the doors which led outside were just a crack open. Following his new hunch, the Doctor walked outside to find no one other than Rose. But his little victory was blemished when he saw the expression on her face. It wasn't exactly sad, but the Doctor knew it wasn't a look he liked to see on the woman he cared so much for.

The Doctor moved closer to her and sat down with her. But Rose didn't say anything, and, not wanting to push her, neither did the Doctor. It was a good ten minutes before Rose let some words escape.

"I know you're him," she blurted.

At first the Doctor was hurt by the words. She wasn't accepting him now and that scared him. What if Rose never could accept him this way? What if he lost her again? He couldn't let that happen. But if that was what she wanted he would have to agree. He would do anything to make her happy, even if it meant stepping out of the picture.

But then the pain left and he gently smiled and said, "I know. I know you know. It's all just so different and new. And of course it'll take some getting used to, for the both of us. And I never expected you to be completely fine with it by the end of today. I know it's hard Rose."

"But what if I don't?" Rose said. Concern and fear was spread across her face. "I lost you once Doctor, what if I lose you again because of something so stupid?"

"Rose," the Doctor said, now gripping her hands, "you have to trust me. Remember when I changed faces the first time? I bet you never thought you could get used to that change. And now I've changed again, but just on the inside a little. I'm your new new new Doctor. And just like you did all those years ago, you will get used to it. You won't even think about it. And if you can't get used to it, well we can cross that path if it comes. But you have to trust me when I say everything will probably be fine, Rose. Okay?"

With watering eyes, Rose nodded in agreement and went back to her silence. The Doctor had a feeling this conversation wasn't over yet so he stayed, gripping her hand. The minutes were passing by slowly now and it felt like it had been hours since the silence restarted. It was peaceful though. Somehow the two had moved closer together and Rose's head now rested on the Doctor's shoulder.

"Do you miss it?" Rose asked, disrupting f the silence.

"Miss what?" Replied the Doctor.

Rose lifted her head off his should and gave him her look. The look that said "oh shut up and tell me, you big idiot." That was one of the Doctor's favorite looks from her.

"'Course I miss it," he admitted, to which Rose put down her head. "How could I not? It's the only life I've known so far. Now I'm the Doctor without a TARDIS. And of course I miss all the people. They were as close to a family as I've had in ages...but now I'm just doing what I've always done. On a new journey with a friend. And how could it get any better?"

With a soft smile Rose looked up at the Doctor. She loved how strong he was being. She could tell just how sad he really was. Not sad to be with her of course, just sad to be so separated from almost everything he had ever known.

"I still miss it all too. It's like it never left me, my old life. I'd still give anything to be back there even if just for a day. Just to visit the old flat one last time. But you're right, we have each other now and that makes up for almost everything else. Although I can't help but think of the other Doctor. We have each other, but what about him? Who's he got?" Rose said.

"Well for now he has Donna and once she's gone he will find someone else just like always. He will be okay Rose. Right now, not so much, but he will be," the Doctor answered.

"But how do you know for sure? That's what's happened to him in the past, but that doesn't mean it'll be the same in a month or two years."

After a brief hesitation the Doctor said," I know because he told me to tell you that."

"You mean like back on the TARDIS before we got dropped off here?" She said.

"No. I mean right now he just to me to tell you that," the Doctor smiled.

"But...how?" Rose exclaimed.

"See, there's this sort of link connecting us. I can see into his thoughts and he can see into mine. I guess the walls of the universe still haven't sealed completely so I can still hear him. And that's what he told me to tell you. That he will be fine and to not worry about him. That he misses you, but that there is no use fretting over it since you can't get back and fix it. He just wants you to be happy," he explained.

"That's just like him-or you. I still don't know how to refer to the both of you. It's all a bit confusing. I just wish I could- wait you said this was a sort of two way thing, yeah?" To this the Doctor nodded yes and Rose continued on, "then I could like leave him a message? From me to him?"

The Doctor nodded again and Rose grinned. They had never had a proper goodbye and, even though this still wasn't a terribly good one, at least they could have a somewhat finality to it. Gathering her thoughts, Rose prepared what she had to say. For some reason it was harder than she would have thought.

"Well then, this is to you Doctor, the first one that is. I hope you know that I still miss you terribly, but that I'm okay and trying to move forward. And I hope that you can do the same even without me there to help you. Just don't go forgetting me, yeah?" Then Rose stopped, reorganized her thoughts, and started again. "You know, I have no clue why this is still so hard. How many times have we said goodbye before? Well, too many times. And here we are, or at least I am, again and it's still so hard and I can't think of what to say."

"Rose," the Doctor interrupted, "he says he understands. It's never easy to say goodbye. Do you want to save this for another time? I imagine I'll still have him in my head for another few months at least, maybe even a year. It always takes a while for the gap to fully close."

"I don't want to, but I just don't know what to say. There's so much and yet not enough," Rose stated.

"Then how about this waits a while. You can still communicate with each other, it just won't be goodbye yet," he suggested. Thinking about it for a second, Rose agreed and a loud yawn followed. "How about we go back to bed then. You look like you could use some lore sleep and rest."

Agreeing once more, the Doctor and Rose stood up, hand in hand, and went off to bed. This time Rose slept soundly and peacefully, not a bad thought haunted her mind now.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, last chapter for the day which means you are most likely not going to be hearing back from this story for quite a while. To quote David Tennant, "I am sorry. I am so sorry." But I am begging that you do not give up on me because it is my number one goal to finish writing this entire story within my lifetime. Hopefully I will...I am just kidding. If I do not finish this story I give you permission to find me and beat me up (just kidding, I don't like getting beat up). Anyways...

You can read what this is about in the actual story. I assume you are already going to if you decided to stick with it this far. shout out to all my lovely readers who have stuck it out with me for 6 whole chapters, by the way. I know, it's been a long journey.

Please review. The more reviews I get the quicker I will post? Maybe? But please leave your reviews.

Disclaimer: What a shocker, I still don't own the rights to Doctor Who. I know, who else is amazed by that?

Chapter 6

"Rose, do we have to go in?" The Doctor whined.

It had been nearly a week since their arrival back in Pete's world and, while they were able to get a lot of things done, there was one mission left to complete: getting the Doctor his job at Torchwood.

"You told me that you would take this job, Doctor! Remember in the car with Mum and Pete? You said that you'd happily take-"

"-Well, I don't know about happily-" the Doctor cut in.

"You said you would take the job, Doctor. You know my mum will never ever forgive you if you don't even try. So this is you trying Doctor. Go on. Go ahead.." Rose said, pushing him forward.

So the pair went on, the Doctor acting like an sad two year old all the way. Rose would have been upset with him for it, but she knew how much he really didn't like Torchwood. After all, it was the thing that got her stuck in this universe in the first place. But at this point she didn't care. She stuck it out, and so could he.

When Rose stopped outside a door the Doctor halted behind her and she knocked. "Now, you remember Jake right? Well he's the guy who's gonna get you officially hired, so you better act nice in there. You may not want the job, Doctor, but like it or not you are getting it. And you like Jake, so just remember that," she reminded him, to which the Doctor sullenly nodded a yes.

As soon as they both turned forward the door opened and a smiling Jake met them on the other side.

"Well Rose, it's nice to see you. And same to you Doctor. I've been expecting a visit. You two wanna come in or something?" Jake motioned to the chairs inside.

Agreeing, Rose and Jake led the Doctor in. It wasn't the most impressive office, but it was nice. Kind of homey, actually. Everyone sank down into the comfortable chairs and Rose began the conversation.

"So Jake, I was wondering if we could get the Doctor a job here. He's definitely qualified. More than the both of us combined, along with most of the other agents as well probably."

"Yeah, sure. It'd be great to have you with us Doctor. We could get so much more done. And I promise you this isn't the same as the Torchwood in your other universe. Pete built it back up to be a good place, then when he stepped down to focus on Vitex and the family he left me in charge and I haven't changed it much from there, really. And now that we have you it can only get better, and safer," Jake answered with a friendly smile spread across his face.

"Great then," Rose said," just go ahead and put him on my team then and I'll take care of him from there."

The smile on Jake's face was slowly replaced with a concerned frown. "I don't know if that's a great idea Rose. You two have a lot of... history together. I don't want things to get complicated for you guys and the rest of your team cause something happens between you two."

"Jake, we worked together for years. Maybe not officially, but we are a great team. Nothing is gonna get complicated or weird. How can you even think it would?" Rose rebuttled.

Still not looking entirely convinced, the Doctor finally spoke up for the first time. "Either I work with Rose or I don't work at all. Maybe you don't need me, but you know how great it'd be to have on a team."

There was silence for a moment and then Jake agreed. The two men shook hands and Jake told Rose to show him his new office. As soon as they had escaped Jake's field of sight, Rose promptly smacked the Doctor on the head.

"What was that about? You could have lost the job!" Rose argued.

"Ow! And I could have, but I didn't! I know how much Torchwood wants me and I know Jake wasn't entirely against us working together, he was just concerned. And you can't blame him. If something happens it is on his head. I don't even understand why you'd be upset, though. We both got what we wanted, and what we both knew was the best," the Doctor reasoned.

"I hate you," Rose laughed.

"Oh don't even joke around Rose Tyler. You just don't like my clearly superior thought process," the Doctor joked, to which Rose slapped him again. There was just something about those Tylers that loved to give a good smackin' to others.

Finally they arrived at a closed door with a plaque that said "Rose Tyler- special agent." Rose opened the door and led the way in. There were two quite different sides to the room. One was completely empty, aside from the desk and chair. The other side was... Well, it was better than the state of Rose's apartment the day they got back, anyways.

"I'm sure you can tell which side is mine," Rose said, gesturing to the mess that was her part of the office. "But that is your side now. Welcome to the office life Doctor, you're gonna love it. Not that it's all office work, don't worry. There's plenty of running around."

They were smiling together now, neither one wanting to move even slightly. But Rose knew there was much to do so she broke her stance first.

"Now Doctor, time for more fun: learning the Torchwood ways and procedures. You better sit down, could be a while."

-

"You know, today wasn't too bad. I could get used to working at that place," the Doctor admitted as they walked back home.

"I knew you'd turn around at some point today. I had money on it, in fact. Jake owes me 10 quid," Rose said.

"Still, it would be so much easier if we had the TARDIS to help us. But I suppose in a few months we'll have our own," the Doctor said, trying not to smile.

"What?!" Rose said, stopping in her tracks.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you? The other me gave me a piece of the TARDIS to grow. In a few months we will have a fully functioning TARDIS on our side. Bigger on the inside and everything," he explained.

Rose was speechless. 'A new TARDIS,' she thought, 'just like old times.'

"You know, Doctor, this is turning out to be a pretty good day," and she looped her arm through his and they continued on home.


	7. Chapter 7

Well hello there people. Long time no see! And sorry about that. Really I am so sorry. But thanks for sticking with me anyways. You guys are wonderful for doing so even though I am so slow. So this one goes out to all of you (*your favorite song plays in the distance*).

So this chapter is great I think. I really like it. This chapter will definitely further Rose's and the Doctor's relationship, but how I won't tell you. Though you can probably guess. Anyways, no more spoilers just go on and read.

As always, please leave reviews. So far I have 3 reviews in this story, which is wonderful (though one of them is just "G" which I don't understand...), but I'd love some constructive criticism because I know my writing must suck at least a little (or a lot probably) and I'd really like to get better. Just as long as you all aren't yelling at me for being terrible. I wouldn't want that. But enough of me babbling, please leave reviews.

Disclaimer: this story and it's contents are not in any way affiliated with BBC or the actual show Doctor Who or Torchwood. How many times do I have to point this out before it is obvious to even Steven Moffat.

Chapter 7

Months had passed now since that last conversation and the Doctor and Rose were more settled into life than ever. Torchwood was going great, they had a fully working TARDIS, and the two of them were getting even closer than before. With each passing day, life was evening out and was becoming more normal, or at least as normal as any life the human metacrisis Doctor and the Bad Wolf could have.

Torchwood was a lot nicer than the Doctor would have cared to admit. Asides from Rose and himself, their team consisted of 3 different members: a young woman named Haley McDonald, who developed the technology, and two boys, Ethan Lovett and Alex Huft who were in charge of the medical and computer needs, respectively. They were all nice and almost as enthusiastic about their jobs as the Doctor. While Rose and the Doctor were typically the runners of the group, the rest were never shy when asked to leave their respective desks and travel into the field.

Asides from the team, the rest of the job was just as fun, the Doctor quickly found out. He was pretty much doing the same as he always was but, somehow it was better. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't feel so lonely anymore. Sure he always had his companions, and they meant the world to him, but even they just weren't enough sometimes. He never wanted to admit how lonely he was, but now he couldn't even begin to deny it. It was just nice how Torchwood was there for him even when Rose couldn't.

As for growing closer together, well that evident. They both wanted each other so badly that neither would let go. But not everything was as perfect as could be: there were still some doubts in Rose's mind. Everyday she noticed something different about this new Doctor: the way he said a word, a new food he liked, how he twirled whatever was in his hand at the moment. They were all so small that nobody else would have noticed, but she did and it frightened her. What if one day he realized that he was so different he didn't need her anymore. Or what if he changed so much she didn't love him anymore? She tried to never think about it, but the fact that it always popped up in the back if get head didn't help.

And the Doctor understood why she would be worried and was always patient with her. Every night he would ask if she wanted to "talk" with the other Doctor. Occasionally (on the best nights) she would say no, but almost every night the answer was yes. But he still never got upset. If this were to be the last thing he could give Rose (though he had a fair sense it wouldn't be), then he would gladly do it. It wasn't until those few months later that he realized maybe that wouldn't be possible for much longer, though.

It was just as any other day had been. The Doctor and Rose came out of their office, hands interwoven, when a massive pang hit the Doctor's head. He tried to ignore it, thinking it was just a bad headache, but by the time they had reached the exit he could barely walk under the pain. He quickly sunk to the floor, bringing Rose's frightened self down with him.

"Doctor! What's wrong?!" She asked, panicking. But his head was under so much stress he couldn't even answer. So instead Rose yelled out, "Help! Jake! Someone! I need to get the Doctor to the medical room! Please!"

Within minutes, they were on their way to check out what was wrong with the Doctor. Ethan, hearing of the news, came in tow.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I-I don't know," Rose cried," he said something about his head hurting and then he just fell to the floor. He couldn't even answer me." She obviously wasn't in a state to discuss this, so Ethan backed off.

Once in the medical facilities, the doctors were ordered to give him every head scan they had. Rose watched as the Doctor struggled under the weight in his mind. She prayed this wouldn't be the end, that this wasn't some sort of stupid metacrisis problem.

The medical doctor injected the pain medicine into his blood and soon the Doctor was completely still on the table, with the exception of the rising and falling of his chest. The other doctors continued to struggle around him though, searching for the cause of it all. After a few x-rays, one of the white-coated men in the room shouted out, "it's a telepathic link breaking!"

No.

The words escaped into Rose's mind. No, not now. It couldn't be breaking now. It was too soon. She never even got her real goodbye with that Doctor yet, and she was beginning to think now she never would.

"Is he going to be okay?" Rose said, out loud this time, not exactly sure witch Doctor she was talking about.

"He'll be perfectly fine, Ms. Tyler," a nearby doctor answered, "he just needs to rest for a little bit. We think the worst is over now though. The pain killers have already begun to neutralize the pressure in his mind and in a day he will be back up and fighting." The doctor smiled and walked away.

Rose moved closer to the Doctor now. He looked just like he was sleeping, so she took that as a good sign. She had to admit, as much as she might be sad that she wasn't able to connect with her original Doctor anymore, she was a lot happier the one in from of her was fine. He was the one who had her heart now, and the one she could grow old with. Rose realized that she had never pictured that aspect with the other Doctor. Putting aside the fact that it just wasn't possible for that to happen, she had always been thinking about them in the present time they happened to be in. Sure, she promised him a forever, but that forever never could consist of more than just running around the universe, which she even knew would end eventually one way or another as it already had.

But with this Doctor she could picture it all. Getting married, owning a house (getting a mortgage!), starting a family, and, especially, growing old together. She wanted the Doctor to wake up now, to be able to tell him she didn't care anymore and that he was the one she truly loved.

Rose touched him, hoping he would wake up by some sort of miraculous biology thing, but he didn't. And that was okay. She just wanted him to get better now, and if that meant waiting, it was okay.

She decided to stay the night with him. After all if it was Rose who was sick in that room the Doctor wouldn't leave without her. Besides, she wanted to talk with him the second she could and having to travel back from her house to Torchwood wouldn't allow that. So she managed to find a comfortable enough chair to stay in, a pillow, and a blanket, and went to bed, waiting for the Doctor the moment he would come back for her.

It was morning by the time Rose woke up. Her eyes fluttered open to the bright light shining through the window. Upon remembering where she was, Rose was a bit disappointed. She figured the Doctor would have woken up by now and, in turn, would have woken her up as well. She was almost afraid to look where the Doctor was, thinking maybe the worst had happened and the doctors were wrong when they said he would be fine. But she turned to him anyways, and couldn't be happier that she decided to.

"Hi," he said. His eyes were focused only on Rose.

"Hey," she replied, a bit slow due to the fact that she was still waking up, "why didn't you wake me up? I was hoping you would when you finally did."

"You were sleeping, I didn't want to bother you," the Doctor answered. Then all of a sudden his tone shifted more of that to guilt and he continued, "Rose, listen, I'm so sorry. The worlds must have finally closed up all the way and I thought we'd have more time but I suppose no-"

"Doctor!" Rose interrupted, "don't you dare apologize to me for this. It's more important that you are still here. With me. Being able to communicate with the other Doctor, I'll admit, was a nice perk and one that was becoming a sort of crutch for me, but he wasn't ever here. And I'd rather have you with me than him in my head. I'd much rather it, in fact."

"You are sure you're going to be okay without him?" the Doctor asked.

In response, Rose got up and kissed the Doctor quite passionately. It was about ten seconds before she got back up and said, "I think I'll be just fine with you, Doctor. And you know why?"

A bit shocked from the kiss, the Doctor simply nudged his head a bit to ask why.

"Because, I love you, Doctor."

Those had been the words she had been waiting to say for the past day and they sounded just as perfect as she had planned they would be. The entire thing was perfect except for one aspect: the Doctor's response.

"Are you sure?" he asked, eyes wide open.

"What is that supposed to mean Doctor!" Rose yelled back. "I tell you I love you, and you ask if I'm sure. As if I'm a child who doesn't know? I have been waiting all night to say this and that is your response! Not an I love you too or at least a smile. I can't believe this," and she stormed out.

Rose wasn't entirely sure why she was so mad about it. She should have known it would have ended with a frightened or confused Doctor. After all, the two of them had been getting on well, but before the event of losing the other Doctor had happened, Rose was obviously nowhere near being able to tell the Doctor that she loved him. Maybe she could have given him an "I like like you" as if she were a second grade school girl, but neither the Doctor or Rose was expecting this huge of a step this soon.

"Wait! Rose!" The Doctor shouted, running clumsily down the hall after her. By the time he caught up he was a bit out if breath, apparently not as healthy as the doctors would have predicted him to be at this point.

"What?" Rose muttered, between his huge breaths.

"Rose, my reaction back there was not what you think it was. I wasn't frightened or scared. I was, well extremely happy actually. I just, did you mean it? Because I don't want you to say something now that you might regret tomorrow. I want you to be happy with where we are and not make things go faster than what you want. And I'm just afraid you're doing that now," he explained.

All of a sudden Rose felt incredibly stupid. Of course he wasn't upset by the fact that she said it, just by the fact that she didn't mean it and would regret it. She took a breath of the now calm area around her and answered, "Doctor, I meant what I said. Maybe in a week you will do something to make me take it back, but I mean it now. I realized while you were asleep what it would be like without you here, and I found out how much I- well how much I love you. I understand why you would think I don't, but I do."

Then the Doctor kissed her. It was more intense than any other kiss either had shared with anyone else, even more so than the first kiss they shared which saved Rose and caused the Doctor to regenerate. For about a minute they were in their own little world where nothing could bother them. Then the need for oxygen happened and Rose backed away to catch her breath.

"I love you too, Rose," the Doctor finally answered.

"Hey Doctor, what do yah think of going back to the flat for a bit," Rose said, surprising herself by her forwardness.

"But we have work in about an hour and it would be highly ineffective to- ohhh. I would be honored to Rose Tyler," he said, finally realizing what she meant.

And, arms linked together, the two headed out with huge smiles on their faces, barely able to contain their excitement.


	8. Chapter 8

So, first off, for those of you who are too naïve to get it, they had sex. I'm no smut writer and I wrote this in the same room as my parents and that was not going to happen. Sorry to disappoint, but it would have been terrible even if I had tried it so you should actually be thanking me.

Once again thanks for reading on. You guys are so great and I always want to tell you that.

Now that that's been taken care of, this story provides a little more depth into Rose's life before Turn Left/ The Stolen Earth/ Journeys End and helps further their emotional relationship. I don't know if it's one of my best chapters, but I like it so enjoy.

As always, leave reviews. Please just love me and give me attention!

Disclaimer: I am actually Steven Moffat and this story will all be canon soon. Haha just kidding. I don't have any affiliations with Doctor Who or BBC or whatever and neither does my story. I fooled you at first, didn't I?

Chapter 8

"Well, that was new," the Doctor said, putting his white converse back on.

"It was indeed. But it will certainly never get old," Rose winked back.

"Mmmm," the Doctor agreed, to which Rose offered her hand to help him get up. "I don't see why we have to go back to Torchwood today. I obviously had a very taxing day yesterday and deserve a day off to do whatever I please. Don't you think so Rose? Yeah, let's just stay here and have some more...fun."

"Oh come on Doctor. We have to go. Everyone will wanna see that you're all well and I'm sure the doctors in the medical area are wondering where you went off to. We can have some more fun tonight," she said, leading him out the door.

Nobody seemed to care the least about the Doctor when they first walked in. It was as if it had been any other day with no huge occurrences. When the Doctor pointed this fact out to Rose and said they could have just stayed home, she hushed him.

Surely enough, though, as soon as the couple reached their department everyone was completely invested in the well being of the Doctor. From each direction, they could hear someone welcoming him back or asking how he was. Eventually they made it to their office and were out of the spotlight. They long ago moved their desks to face each other when sitting down, so they went to their respective sides of the table. Completely ignoring the papers marked urgent on their desk, they seemed completely entranced in each other's eyes.

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Rose admitted. "Maybe we should have just stayed home."

The Doctor was about to tell her "I told you so" when Haley, Ethan, and Alex burst through the doors.

"Hey Doctor. Nice to see you're doing well today! Where were you off at this morning? Everyone was in a huge bustle over it," Haley said.

"Oh, yah know, just...taking care if stuff," Rose answered for him. She honestly didn't trust the Doctor not to blabber on and on about what they actually had done. Rose did, however manage a little wink to the Doctor.

"Oh, okay. Well we asked Jake if you needed to stay today for you and he said no. But he said to stop by his office first if you decide to go home. Kay?" Alex spoke this time.

"Sounds fantastic," the Doctor replied, to which the three other team members left. "So then Rose Tyler, what say you? Shall we go see Jake and then head back to the flat or stay and work on these incredibly unimportant files?"

"I think it might be better if we just stayed and worked for a while. You know, just get some stuff over with," she answered. The Doctor did no more than just stare at her in disbelief. "Oh I'm just messing around with you yah big idiot. Let's go see Jake."

They walked back down the hall with far less interruptions and made their way into Jake's office, where he once again invited them in.

"So Doctor, how're you feeling? Better I suppose."

"Oh I'm fine Jake. In fact I'm better than fine I'm great, wonderful, and all those good synonyms," said the Doctor.

"So what did you need us for, Jake?" Rose moved on.

"Oh nothing really. Just wanted to check up on the Doctor and make sure he was okay. Rose, you as well. How are you doing? You haven't stayed over night at the infirmary since Harry got hurt."

"Oh, me? I'm fine too. Same as the Doctor said. Just... great," Rose struggled. She hadn't been expecting to hear that name when she walked into Jake's office and now was worried over how the Doctor would react to hearing it.

"Okay...well good then. That's all I wanted. I may be your boss but you two are still great friends. You're free to go- oh Rose, by the way, your mum called. She said you weren't picking up your mobile, but she wanted to know if you two were okay as well and if you could just stop by and give her and Pete a visit. That's all now I think. Have a nice day you too!" He shouted as they left.

"So Harry?" The Doctor asked Rose as they walked on.

"Yes. I knew a man named Harry. What about it?"

"Knew? As in past tense?" he said.

With a deep breath Rose answered, "yes Doctor 'knew.' Yah know how when you first got here the desk you use now was empty? Well that was Harry's desk."

"And who was this Harry?" The Doctor continued.

"What's it to you?" Rose said. She was rather annoyed that he was determined to find out. Why couldn't he just let this sort of stuff go?

"I'm just curious. We've been here, what, 3 months, and you haven't mentioned a single Harry during that time," he argued as they walked into the parking lot.

"You're just jealous."

"Excuse me Ms. Tyler, but I am only interested in your life. There are still apparently some things I haven't entirely caught up with. I can't help that jealousy may be a side effect of that..." the Doctor argued.

His stance was clearly not a strong one, but it was the one he was sticking with. 'And God help him with it,' Rose thought about it.

"Fine fine. Might as well just get it over with now, anyways. Well, let's see. Where to start. Ahh, when I got here the only people I knew were Mickey, my mum, Pete, and Jake. So, as you know, Pete got me the job at Torchwood and I was Jake's partner; but then when Pete left and Jake got moved up, I got a new partner."

"This Harry man I presume?" Added the Doctor, now stepping into Rose's car.

"Are you gonna let me tell the story or not? Where was I? Oh, right. So I got a new partner, and yes, that partner was Harry. He was incredibly nice to me and just so friendly. I was still always depressed back then, and most people didn't even want to try to help me because they thought I was just a totally lost cause. But Harry always took the time for me, gave me a shoulder to cry on so to say.

"We ended up being a great team, kind of like the two of us. We always seemed to know what the other was thinking and could get out of anything. Well, almost anything. Then there was this one mission we had against some rogue cyberman and he got in a bit of trouble when we separated. Long story short, by the time we found him he was part of the way through the "upgrade." We all rushed him back to the hospital but- he didn't make it. I stayed with him the entire time of course, I couldn't bring myself to leave him. He had been so kind to me, so I had to repay him somehow. But then a couple days later after a failed surgery it just didn't work out and he died. That's who Harry was," Rose let out. It felt good to talk about it, but it just hurt her so much.

As for the Doctor, he sat in the unmoving car simply staring ahead. He never imagined anything as terrible as that would have happened to her over the time she had been here alone. She was just too Rose-y to even notice that there may have been the possibility of something being wrong. "Rose, I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I can't believe- are you all right?"

A weak smile forming on her lips, Rose answered," yeah, I'm fine Doctor. It's just hard, you know. We were so close and it was only about six months ago. But I tried to move on because I knew he never would have wanted to add to my piles of sadness. But I've mostly gotten on. Last night was a little harder because of that, though. At some points all I could think about was Harry and 'the last time I was in here.' But I'm good Doctor, really. So shall we head over to see Mum now? I bet she's anxious."

With a nod and a gentle kiss, Rose began driving off. The car was full of the same kind of silence shared between Pete, Jackie, Rose, and the Doctor the day they arrived back. This silence was worse, though, actually. All the Doctor wanted to do was soothe Rose and help her. But there was only one thought crossing his mind the entire time:

"Did you like him? I mean, did you have feelings for him?" The Doctor finally said out loud.

"I thought I did at one point, but no. He was just a great friend Doctor. Nothing more than that."

She didn't think it was important to tell him that Harry had had some feelings for her and that he even asked her out on occasion, to which she would surprisingly agree to. That wasn't important now, though and, she thought, might never be.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello again! I'll keep the intro short this time.

This chapter gives the relationship between the Doctor and Jackie a little more depth, which is something well needed. The only thing I warn you about, is that there might be slight disconnect during the first part, but I like this chapter and I didn't want to change it. It's not too bad, if the disconnect even exists, so hopefully it will be all right.

Please leave your reviews. It would make my day and I need day making. Badly.

Disclaimer: I'm too tired to come up with something creative, sorry. I don't own the rights or have any affiliations with Doctor Who, BBC, or Torchwood. Done.

Chapter 9

"Rose! Oh I'm so glad you came! And you too Doctor. Well come on in, I don't expect you to stay on the doorstep all day, come in!" Jackie said.

The car ride over to the mansion had been a quiet and long one, just as it had started, but they finally got there. Rose and the Doctor wanted no more than to go home, but they both knew they would have to face Jackie at some point and figured it would just be easier to get it over with. So they entered the house and got on with it all.

Jackie, on the other hand, was completely happy to have the company of her daughter, and even the Doctor. She so rarely got to see Rose anymore and each time she came over it made her ecstatic. Never mind the fact that she spent most of her time talking about Torchwood with Pete or playing with Tony, it was still extremely nice. So with a smile on her face she followed the couple in.

"Go, sit, sit. Would you like any tea?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah Mum. Tea for both of us." She turned her head to the Doctor, "don't worry Doctor. I'll get us out of here as soon as possible. Make something up or something. You know?"

"Oh, don't worry about it Rose. We can stay as long as you want. It'll be...fun," the Doctor said.

Rose stared back at him in disbelief and retorted, "you okay Doctor? Not still sick are you?"

"Oh I am just fine Rose. Maybe I just want to see and talk to your mother for once," the Doctor argued.

Rose scoffed at him but before she could reply Jackie walked back in. "Here's your tea. So how are things? Doctor how are you feeling? I heard from your father what happened."

"Oh yeah, Jackie. Fit as a fiddle. If a fiddle could be fit that is. It was just a minor little thing. Consciousnesses separating, no big deal," the Doctor babbled on.

"Well from what I heard it was, but it's good that you are better now. And you Rose? How are you?" Jackie asked.

"Oh I'm just fine Mum. Great actually. Just a bit tired is all," Rose answered.

"Well I won't keep you long then. But maybe you'll stay for some dinner, yeah? I'm making lasagna tonight," Jackie said.

"Yeah. All right, Mum. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to actually go use the loo," Rose announced, leaving the room.

There was a bit of awkward silence shared between the Doctor and Jackie, but then the Doctor decided to break it by asking, "Hey, Jackie. Do you know, what's his name, Harry? The bloke Rose used to work with?"

"Course I do. Kind man he was. He helped Rose out a lot. Why?"

"Well Rose was telling me about him earlier and I was just wondering..." The Doctor trailed off.

"How close they were?" Jackie finished his sentence for him. "I don't know if I should tell you Doctor. If Rose didn't want to say then I don't know if it's my business to be telling yah."

"Oh come on Jackie. I barely even asked Rose about that earlier. I just didn't want to drag it all out of her when she may not have wanted to." The Doctor argued. "We've been getting on good and I don't think asking that will help with the progress we are making. But if my knowing might help her in some way, you've gotta help. Jackie," he begged.

Jackie checked over both of a her shoulders, making sure Rose was nowhere near. When she was sure the coast was clear she started.

"You have to understand, Doctor. She was broken. She buried herself in Torchwood trying to find a way to get back to you and she wasn't happy for too long of a time. So when Harry became her work partner, everyone, including Rose, expected him to react like a normal human and get out as soon as possible. But he didn't. He stayed with her and helped her in so many ways. He got her out of work and back into the actual world and put a smile on her face, and the fact that anyone could do that was impressive.

"Once she started getting a little back to normal, he asked her out. At first she refused, making excuses to wait for you. But then as things got more hopeless and they got closer, she'd start saying yes. I don't think she ever had any feelings for him, though, Doctor. Maybe if they had had more time and she never found you again she would have started to, but she loved him as a friend and nothing more.

"Then came the night of the rogue cyberman mission. From what Rose and Pete told me about it, they seemed to have decided to split up, thinking it would be better since the cyberman were hiding all over the place. But it turned out they were wrong. Rose headed off into an area that was empty, it was the decoy I suppose, and Harry went off to face all of the cyberman. Rose called for back-up to help get Harry out, but by the time they did it was too late; they had already started to upgrade him, or whatever it is those cybermen do.

"After that, he was rushed back to Torchwood and was in intensive surgery for about two days. None of it worked though and he died. All of the doctors thought there was something wrong with the last surgery he was given, but I think he was a dead man the second he fell into that trap. It was just too much for them to handle, even with all their resources; Harry just didn't stand a chance.

"The entire time, Rose was by his side, though. I don't think she left him once, unless she was being forced to. She felt so guilty and terrible, Doctor. And once he passed, she returned to her depressed state like when she was originally left here. No one could do anything for her, and it broke all of our hearts, especially mine. She began sinking even further into her work, more determined to find you, or rather the other you, than ever before.

"I suppose it was a good thing that she dug more into Torchwood though, cause every time she got a step closer to getting back to you, she got a little happier. And by the time she found you, she seemed to get right back to normal. Maybe she didn't want you to know, maybe she was just so happy to see you that that pain escaped her, I don't really know for sure. But Doctor, you have to promise that you won't tell her anything of what I've just told you. I hate keeping secrets from Rose, but the last thing I want is her getting angry at me. So you promise me, Doctor? You swear you won't tell Rose?" Jackie finally finished.

"Promise he won't tell me what, Mum?" Rose asked walking back into the room. Her sudden presence made Jackie jump a little. She wondered how long her daughter may have been standing behind her, listening.

"Oh, just how much your mother really loves me, isn't that right, Jackie?" The Doctor smiled. He gave a tiny nod and silently crossed his hearts, letting Jackie know their conversation would be kept to themselves. Jackie gave a thankful sigh in relief.

"Well...okay then. I guess," Rose said, not believing a word of it. "So, you were talking about lasagna for dinner? Did you want any help with it, Mum?" Rose asked.

Jackie was quiet then said, "you know what, sweetheart, maybe you should just go home. You and the Doctor have been through a lot the past couple of days and you deserve to not be bothered by me."

Rose stared back at her mother, not believing what came out of her mouth. "Mum? You aren't sick too, are you?"

"Oh, haha very funny. I'm just saying, you two must be pretty tired. So go on, get out. We can have dinner some other time. Just go rest, or have some fun. Whatever it is you two want to do," Jackie stood up, leading them out the door.

Rose held up her finger and opened her mouth when she realized she was on the other side of a closed door. "What just happened?" She asked.

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders in response, trying to hold back a smile. As much as he had been thankful to Jackie for letting him in on the whole Harry secret, he was more glad that he didn't have to spend an entire day with her. I mean, it was Jackie Tyler, queen of the slap, after all.

Choosing not to linger too long, the Doctor took Rose's hand and led her back to the car.

They had arrived back at the flat, but neither got out of the car. The entire ride had once again been filled with little talk or noise. Rose was the first to speak.

"So, you and my mum have a pretty nice discussion, Doctor?" She whispered.

"What? Rose we were just talking about nothing. Really," the Doctor defended.

"I already know she told you about Harry, Doctor. You may be sneaky, but Mum certainly isn't," Rose said.

"Are you mad?" The Doctor responded.

Rose looked and smiled at him. "No, I'm not. I'm actually almost relieved you know now. It won't be such a blind spot in our relationship."

They both looked ahead again, but their hands were intertwined. It seemed neither would be getting out of the car anytime soon, so the Doctor proposed something else.

"Rose Tyler, what do you think about going on a proper second date?"

"I would absolutely love it," Rose answered. "But first, if you wouldn't mind, I'd love a shower and change of clothes."

Agreeing to the terms, they finally got out of the car and rushed up to their home.


	10. Chapter 10

It's the Doctor and Rose's second date! Well kind of, but you'll see. I don't want to keep you too long so I'll keep this intro pretty short.

Also, I busted out a few chapters real fast for you guys, but I'm having major writers block with where I want my story to go so it might be another while. I have a few finished chapters left that I have yet to post which I'm saving for a rainy day I guess, but, other than maybe those, be prepared for another long wait. Again I apologize and want to thank all of you for being so awesome and patient.

REVIEWS PLEASE!

Disclaimer: unless being a major and obsessed fan gives my any rights, I don't own or have any affiliations with Doctor Who or BBC.

Chapter 10

With the exception of their first date, the Doctor and Rose had never been out together as a real couple. Sure, they had kind of acted like a couple and almost everyone suspected they were, but nothing had really happened between them. The night of their first date, when Rose showed her doubts, had scared them away from the prospect.

But finally they were getting that second date and everything was different. Well, almost everything. Rose and the Doctor were both extremely anxious again. The fact that they had already been on a date and had practically been a couple for months didn't change any of their fears.

Once again the Doctor was waiting down in the lobby. As soon as he had changed into a new suit, Rose had promptly kicked him out of the apartment. As it had gone:

Doctor: Oh come on Rose! Why can't I just stay?

Rose: Because I want to look good for you, Doctor. So go wait outside like you did last time!

Doctor: And if I refuse to leave?

But that had been the end of the conversation, for Rose had given him that death stare she was so good at and raised her hand; partially telling him to get out, and partially threatening to slap him. Already feeling the pressure on the back of his head, the Doctor decided to take the easy way out and leave.

Now he wondered if a slap would have been better than waiting downstairs for almost two hours. A few times he considered going back up to Rose, but knew that doing so would cause a lot more trouble than even his mind could predict.

'What could possibly be keeping her up there for two bloody hours,' he thought. 'She never took this much time when we traveled on the TARDIS and there were times she had to put on five times the layers of clothing she's probably putting on now.'

Just as he had given up and resigned his post to run upstairs, he saw Rose finally arriving, taking any resentment he had for her away.

The first thing he saw was her foot, which was modeling a sparkling silver stiletto heel. Then came the rest of Rose. She was wearing a bright pink dress with yellow streaks which was pretty tightly fitted around her top, but then flounced out in the skirt. The bottom of it almost reminded the Doctor of a flame, somehow.

Then, as if what she was wearing wasn't enough, Rose's face looked absolutely stunning, more so than usual. It was clear she had spent more time on her makeup than usual, which usually annoyed the Doctor because he didn't find it necessary to add to her already existing beauty, but now found it nothing less than magnificent. Her golden, curled hair fell around her face gently, as well, causing it to slightly bounce with every step she took.

Rose looked even better than she had on their first date, and that was saying something. The Doctor promised himself he would never ever think twice again when given the option to wait downstairs while Rose would change. Both times he had agreed to do so left him completely happy and even more in love with the woman standing before him. If there was anything the Doctor was willing to wait for, it was definitely this.

"Rose- you're- you're breathtaking," the Doctor mumbled out.

"I can tell," Rose chuckled. "Are you all right Doctor? You seem rather shocked."

"It's just... You're just so...wonderful," he rambled.

"Yeah, I am, aren't I?" She looked down to where his hand was. "What, no flowers for me this time?"

"No. I mean, if you wanted some, I could get you! Do you want me to go? Oh what a bloody idiot I am. I should have known to-" the Doctor went on, until Rose cut him off.

"It was just a joke, Doctor. I was only kidding. Why don't you breath for a second and then we can go."

A brief pause later, the Doctor came back to his mind. "It's all right. I'm good now. But Rose you are..."

"Beautiful? Wonderful? Perfect? Yah, Doctor. I know. You already told me. What's gotten into you, anyways? I've never seen you this dazed." Rose asked.

"It's just... I don't know really. Just excited, I suppose... It's not every day I get to go on a date with the perfect Rose Tyler," he said, slightly embarrassed by the fact he had openly called her perfect. Rose blushed in response. "Anyways...what have you got planned for is this evening, Ms. Tyler? I assume you must have something in mind."

"Actually I was hoping you would pick this time. Just please make it somewhere this dress will fit in, cause I did not get all dressed up just to wow you while coming down the stairs and change again," Rose said.

The Doctor had a moment of thought and snapped his fingers. "I know the perfect place!"

"So where are we exactly?" Rose asked at the doors of the TARDIS. Honestly, she was a bit frightened that she left this decision up to the Doctor. As much as she loved traveling with him, this was not the time to be experimenting with new civilizations.

The Doctor smiled back at her, seeing the hidden panic written across her face. He wasn't nervous at all though. He knew that they would have a great time, both by his standards and her own.

"Well if you are that curious Rose, why don't you just open the doors yourself and look." He motioned towards the door.

One tiny attack of a fear later, Rose rushed out the door only to find a sight that amazed her.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"New Earth. Specifically New New York. Can't you smell the apple grass?" The Doctor joked. He then proceeded to walk out in front of her and give her his hand to guide her.

The sight was truly amazing, Rose thought. There were shimmering lights everywhere. It looked almost as if outer space and all of its stars had been brought down to this planet, or room, or whatever it was. The floor was almost invisible by it all, only recognized through the reflections of those who walked across it. On the other side was a woman holding a clipboard, who was getting closer and closer now that they noticed...

"Hello, excuse me," the woman said as she caught the blue box, "but this is reservations only. So unless you have one I suggest-"

"No, no. We have one, see," the Doctor searched his inner pocket until he found the psychic paper to present.

"Oh...very well then. Follow me," the woman said. She led them to the end of the end of the hall and opened a door which seemed to appear out of nowhere. Inside, was a single table set for two. The decoration of it wasn't quite as spectacular as the one they arrived in, but it was still beautiful and full of the night sky. It was just a bit less dramatic about the whole concept.

Thanking the woman, Rose and the Doctor went quickly to their seats.

"Doctor this is just..." Rose trailed off.

"Beautiful? Wonderful? Perfect? Yah, Rose. I know," the Doctor smiled, mimicking Rose's response to him from earlier. "But you like it right? It's supposed to be the best place on New Earth. Real beautiful and the food, I hear, is just fantastic. I figured you would like it, but even I don't know everything I suppose."

"Doctor how could I not love this place? It's spectacular. I mean...really! Just look at it!" Rose exclaimed.

"Good. I was hoping you'd say something like that," the Doctor said, relieved. "'Sides, I promised you a real New Earth experience once and we got stuck in a hospital with a piece of skin controlling the both of us, so I'm pretty sure I owe you this. It's in a different universe, but it's almost the same. Also I figured New New York would be good for a third second date." And there was that smile again.

"How long have you been waiting to use that line?" Rose asked.

"Oh, just since I decided where we were going to go. So really not that long, Rose. I waited a lot longer to find that Allonso fellow I told you about," he answered.

"Okay then, Doctor..." Rose teased.

The Doctor didn't reply, though. He simply stared at Rose. Kind of like in those romantic movies, the Doctor simply could not take his eyes off her.

"What?" Rose asked him.

"I just-love you Rose Tyler. I really love you," he replied.

"Yes, I know. And I love you too, Doctor."

"You are sure?" He said.

Rose frowned. "Doctor, we've already been through this."

"It's just been a pretty intense couple of days. I don't want what you feel now to just be some sort of shock or-"

"Doctor, I love you and there's no question about it. Now shut up and figure out what you're gonna eat," she said. Her voice sounded aggravated, but the smile on her face ruined her cover. "I know last time we did this, things didn't exactly work out, and that was pretty much my fault. But now we are trying again and I feel like it could work. But only if you don't accuse me of lying about how I feel. So deal?"

"Deal," the Doctor agreed.

"And if you are extra nice tonight, maybe we can continue where we left off this morning..." Rose said, her eyebrow raising. The Doctor simply smiled back.


	11. Chapter 11

Why hello there. Nice to see you again! Thanks for actually continuing to read this story. I mean it. You all are fantastic. Especially since it's been months since I've posted and you all prolly thought I forgot...

In this chapter, the Doctor and Rose must deal with everyone finding out about their new relationship and telling Jackie (dun dun duuuun). Enjoy.

I am an attention hoarder who wants reviews. Please just give in to my silly needs so that a) you get better writing from me and b) I don't cry.

Disclaimer: if I were a wizard I would totally give myself the rights to own Doctor Who and everything, but until that day I am afraid I will not have any rights to the show or channel it is played on.

Chapter 11

It had been nearly three weeks since the Doctor and Rose's second date, and everything was going by wonderfully.

At first, the two tried to hide their new-ish relationship to the rest of the world, worried they would jinx something. This proved to be a rather difficult task though. While before the couple liked to be near each other but had no huge problems being apart, now they were almost inseparable. Where Rose went, the Doctor went, and vice-versa. While most of their fellow team members thought nothing of it in the start (after all, the Doctor had just gone through a somewhat traumatic experience and they were already pretty close to begin with), other signs started to appear all around: them always holding hands, the Doctor's even stronger desire for Rose's safety, and so on. Still, no one jumped to conclusions, until about the second week of their relationship at last when they were found snogging in some cupboard. And while it had been rather embarrassing in the moment, by the next day it was simply a huge relief. Not having to keep it a secret from everyone and knowing that it was something they all approved of brought even more happiness to their lives.

The scariest part about the whole thing was probably telling Jackie. Pete had already heard of the news and congratulated them on it before they had told her, but made sure to keep it a secret to allow Rose and the Doctor to have the honor of saying what had happened. While Rose had been perfectly content to do it, the Doctor was quite stressed over it. Even since their last talk about Rose's coworker Harry when they seemed to be getting on even better, she still hadn't quite forgiven him for what he (or rather what his fully Timelord self) had done to Rose by getting her trapped here. And sometimes it would show, like when she managed to hear him complain about something from Torchwood or knew that he and Rose had had a tiny spat over some spilled milk. It really wasn't fair she still held a tiny grudge against him, but what could he do. He hoped that the courtesy Jackie showed him last time was a new changing point. But, as he and Rose stood outside the Tyler mansion doors, he couldn't help but feel Jackie would somehow send him packing away from Rose.

"Doctor, are you okay? You're shaking. You're not seriously that afraid to tell my Mum about us, are yah?" She asked. His widened eyes and lack of words answered the question for her. "Oh seriously Doctor, she doesn't hate you enough to disapprove of this. You have nothing to fear! It'll be okay!" She laced her arm through his and rang the doorbell. Pete was there in a second to open the door.

"Hey there, Rose. How are you sweetheart?" He said, kissing her cheek.

"Oh, I'm good, Dad. The Doctor on the other hand is a complete mess."

"Oi. I am not a mess! Just a tad nervous..." To which Rose snorted.

"900 years of traveling around the universe, running from monsters and you're a 'tad nervous' about telling Mum we're going out? Come on, Doctor. It's not like we're telling her I've gotten pregnant," Rose mocked. It did nothing to stop the Doctor's nerves though.

"Well don't just stand there arguing you two, come sit down. Jackie'll be down in just a moment," Pete announced and ran up the stairs. It was a good few minutes before Jackie came down to greet them.

"Rose! Oh, I've missed you, love. How are you?" Jackie practically squealed in excitement.

"Oh I'm fine Mum. Actually, I'm wonderful. Couldn't be better!" Rose answered.

"And Doctor?" She turned to him now. "What about you? No more problems I suppose."

"Yeah...I'm- I'm just the same as Rose actually. Good. Happy. All that...good, happy stuff," he babbled. The Doctor suddenly realized just how long a night this was going to be.

"Allright. That's...good I suppose then. Shall we go to the table? Dinner's just about ready. It's lasagna, like I promised you last time," Jackie went on, walking towards the set table. Neither Rose or the Doctor followed however.

"Actually Mum, there is something we need to tell you. Just before we go eat to get it over with," Rose said.

With a concerned look on her face, Jackie asked, "What is it, sweetheart? What's the matter?"

"It's just that..." Rose stopped for a moment to gather herself. She didn't know why this was becoming so hard. She got more nervous with each passing second and was even beginning to understand why the Doctor was so fearful. Sure, there was almost no chance Jackie would call their relationship out as a bad thing but...but what if she did? The fear paralyzed her.

"We are dating now," the Doctor blurted out. The words coming out of his mouth surprised everyone, even himself.

Jackie stood there with an unconcerned look on her face. "Yeah? And?"

"That's-that's it Mum. The Doctor and I are going out now," Rose finally continued.

"Well I already knew that, Rose. Honestly, what do you think I am? Blind?" Jackie asked.

"How did you know, though. I mean, we've made sure word of it wouldn't get to you. We've been hiding it from you. How could you possibly have known?" Rose asked.

Jackie snorted in amusement. "Hiding it? You two have been hiding it as well as the Doctor can drive that TARDIS!"

"Oi! It's not my fault the TARDIS has a mind of her own!" The Doctor interjected.

"Anyways Rose. You couldn't have possibly thought that even making an effort to hide this from me would work. I played along with you two and waited till you were ready, but you should have know the news would reach me sooner than you planned on it," Jackie said.

The room was silent. Rose had expected Jackie to be at least a little surprised, even if she were just playing along with them. But she had never expected her mother to be this calm about it.

"Well, then you've probably had time to think it over. What do you think of it?" Rose asked.

"Think of what?" Jackie replied.

"The problems Harriet Jones is causing for us," Rose joked. "What do you think of the Doctor and I going out?!"

"I don't know. I didn't think my opinion in the matter would count much," Jackie said.

"It- it doesn't Mum. But I'd like to know what you think of the whole thing," Rose fought.

"I don't really care, sweetheart. I'm happy that you're happy. Especially after everything that's happened to you lately..."

"So... It's all ok with you? You aren't going to freak out if you see us holding hands or kissing or anything?" Rose continued. She just wanted to get the entire thing out of the way.

"Sweetheart, I saw much more than that with that Jimmy Stone of yours and the only thing that bothered me then was how he was treating you. But, as much as I hate to admit it, I know the Doctor will always treat you wonderfully. Even if they aren't exactly my standards of wonderful..."she admitted.

A huge sigh of relief came to both the Doctor and Rose. They both should have known with no uncertainty that this is what Jackie would have said, and both felt silly for not realizing it sooner.

"Thank you Jackie," the Doctor finally spoke up.

"But don't think I won't give you a good smackin' if you do something to Rose, Doctor. I expect you to treat my daughter well, but that doesn't something won't happen to turn that around," Jackie warned him, to which the Doctor frowned a little bit. He had absolutely no intentions on hurting her. Ever. But before he could speak up, he thought better. He had seen too much to know that everything always went according to how they were planned. The thought scared him, but he knew he couldn't deny it.

"Well, now that we've cleared all of this up, shall we go eat?" Pete said. His presence in the room had been all but forgotten until then.

Smiling at Jackie, Rose agreed to eat and started heading over to the table. The whole night would be a lot easier now, she thought. And, feeling rather good, she took the Doctor's hand and pecked him on the cheek.

After a surprisingly pleasant dinner and some play time with Tony, Rose and the Doctor headed back to their flat to enjoy another fun night.


	12. Chapter 12

So, I know it's been a terribly long time since I've updated, but here I am again. Sorry about the wait, I know I'm terrible and a major procrastinator.

You know what always bugged me about the other fanfic I read about Tentoo and Rose? They never got to have adventures like in the actual show! It was always about their new lives and love and whatever, but I think they would still go on their adventures, so here is their first new one! And I particularly enjoy it. Like really Steven Moffat, take notes because I think this would make a good episode! Or at least an okay-ish one. Read up!

LEAVE. YOUR. REVIEWS. OR. I. WILL... I don't know. I didn't think I would get this far really.

Disclaimer: really? Haven't you been listening at all? I DONT OWN DOCTOR WHO OR THE BBC.

Chapter 12

Work at Torchwood had been pretty slow recently consisting mainly of research and a couple of small missions. Rose and the Doctor had been extremely happy about this because it meant more time for them to go around traveling in the TARDIS.

Their adventures had become even more fun in this new universe. The tiny differences between this world and the last always seemed to surprise the Doctor and his shock over it would amuse Rose. These changes made their trips a lot more exciting and, in some cases, scarier. But nonetheless, they were always worth it.

The only thing that almost scared them away from continuing their travels to the full extent was the Doctor's new life span. Usually his regenerative powers had given the Doctor the ability to do almost anything without having to worry much about it ending his life. But now, if he wasn't careful, everything could end within a snap of a finger. And, as scared as he was for himself about it, he was more worried about Rose. After all, she would be the one who would have to live on without him afterwards, and she had already came out that situation rather badly before.

For a while, major travels were put on hold all together, with only TARDIS trips for little things like dates and shopping trips. The fact that trouble always seemed to find them was no more than a likely coincidence. However it was those coincidences that helped Rose talk the Doctor back into their adventures, her argument being that if trouble was just going to find them anyways why bother avoiding it? While at first the Doctor continually opposed her pleas, eventually he realized just how much he missed them and caved in. So now the Doctor and Rose were on the TARDIS traveling to the next excitement in store for them.

"So where were you thinking this time, Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Oh I don't know, what do you think about going to the planet Geshtamool. I heard a long time ago that everything there is backwards. It seems really quite entertaining! I mean can you imagine, dogs walking the people! Fascinating!" he explained, his face wearing a smile.

"Sounds fantastic!" Rose agreed.

The Doctor pushed a few levers and did entered in some coordinated and they were off. The ride was a bit bumpy, but they got there without falling down, so overall it was a success. Or so they thought, at least. One step outside the door proved just how "successful" they had been.

"Uhh, Doctor? Are you sure this is the right place?" Rose asked, seeing a nearly empty plain.

"No, I put in the right coordinates. It should be the right...although..." The Doctor trailed off.

"You forgot to account for universal differences again, didn't you?Doctor!" Rose scolded.

"Well, hey hey. Settle down. I'll get used to it. Eventually. Maybe..." He trailed off again, this time a confused look took residence on his face. "Why is this place so quiet?"

"I don't know. Do you think something is wrong?" Rose asked.

"Well, normally no. I'd figure it was just uninhibited or something, but the TARDIS showed readings of life here. So if there is life-"

"Where is everyone?" She cut him off, then a smile grew on her face. "Would you like to investigate?"

"Oh, I could never resist a good mystery... I suppose we can go check it out," the Doctor agreed. With linked arms, the pair walked out into the distance.

"Doctor, are you sure the TARDIS wasn't just wrong?" Rose asked. They had been wandering for what seemed like hours with no luck of finding anything or anybody.

"No, the TARDIS never misses about that stuff unless she's having major malfunctions, which I would know about, mind you. Let me just..."

The Doctor took out his new sonic screwdriver (which came with the TARDIS) and laid down, and put his ear against the ground. He buzzed the screwdriver a few times, scrunching his face in confusion. He mumbled about the impossibilities that his findings apparently gave him. Occasionally he would even pick a piece of grass and chew on it.

"Doctor? What is it? What's wrong?" Rose assumed there was something wrong, otherwise the Doctor wouldn't have been so intrigued by it all.

Getting off the ground, the Doctor began explaining his discoveries. "Well, you know, each planet needs an atmosphere to support the life it holds like the one on Earth and the one we are experiencing now. That is how we are surviving. Without it, we would be ka-poot. Dead. Gone. But we have the atmosphere-"

"Doctor, I know what it means to need an atmosphere, why is it part of the problem?" Rose interrupted. As much as she loved the man, he sure could ramble.

"Oh, right. Well, the atmosphere here is poisoned. Not to us, there isn't a need to worry. It only affects two-brained species. But, you taste the sort of metal flavor in the air? That's the poison and oh, is it deadly-for those who are affected by it, again," he explained.

"But how do you know that? I mean, the air can have a metallic taste on Earth, but does that mean it's poisoned?" Rose asked.

"No, at first I didn't even think about it being poisoned. I didn't even notice it at all. But when I was examining the ground, the grass I had-well here, try it yourself," he reached into the ground and pulled up a few strands of the thin blades.

She took the grass hesitantly and stuck only the tiniest part onto her mouth, but that was all it took. All I a sudden that spot was burning, and the sensation was spreading around her mouth like a wildfire. But almost as soon as she could feel it, the heat was gone. "What the hell?!"she exclaimed.

"Fire grass. It's completely unnatural. Some planets love it though, because it gives that super spicy flavor, but it hardly lingers. Oftentimes they have to create the grass somewhere not on their planet because the chemicals used to make it are famously known as environment killers. The chemicals are absorbed by the grass, but you would have to be a genius, more even than me, to calculate the exact amount you'd need for a harvest. So, there is usually an excess of what's needed and that gets sucked into the atmosphere and poisons it. Doesn't even matter where it's planted really. They will poison any place they are made perfectly.

All the harvesters have to do to stay clear of, well killing themselves, is create the product in an environment where the toxic chemicals mutate to a point where they can't affect their own nervous systems. Like I said before, this poison only affects the original inhabitants of the planet, which is why we are safe and can consume the grass as it's meant to be. But, to everyone else living here, they would have endured slow and painful deaths," the Doctor said.

"But that's, that's just not right. I mean, that sounds more like war than popular food," Rose argued.

"As it was. It wasn't uncommon to see it as a warfare tactic. Sadly, most of the time both sides fighting would lose though, because it was one of the go-to weapons that could kill without even trying which made it extremely well known and popular. I even saw my own fair share of it during the Time War, before it was banned by the Shadow Proclamation. And even some time after that. Disgusting this technique is. I've always despised it..."

"Wait, but Doctor, you said they would die slow and painful deaths, yeah? But if that's the case, why did the TARDIS get a life signal? Shouldn't...shouldn't anyone who was living here be dead?" Rose asked.

"Ahh, but that's the thing. They aren't. Like I said, it's a slow process, so they had time to get themselves out. And so they did," the Doctor said.

"So they left and survived? Then what's leaving the life signs, Doctor?!" Rose shouted. She wondered why he had to skit around the truth. It would be great for everyone if he could just skip the "mumbo-jumbo" of it all.

"Oh no, they never left Rose. In fact, they are right here, in front of our eyes," the Doctor smiled. Rose simply rolled her eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

Part two of their adventure. Will they be able to save anything or anyone that can be saved? Well I guess you will have to read on to find out!

I don't want to bug you about reviews or anything anymore but...please leave them? Maybe?

Disclaimer: why is it such a problem to understand that I, a 17 year old girl, does not own any rights to Doctor Who or anything related to it? Like really!

Chapter 13

"Doctor! You aren't making any sense. How can they be right in front of our eyes when we, or at least I, can't even see them!" Rose argued.

"Weeeell... Not exactly in front of us. They are actually beneath us, living in the planet. Before the toxins of the fire grass could kill them all off, they relocated beneath the planet's crust. Oh. I do love a good survival instinct," the Doctor said.

"But, why didn't they just leave? If the environment was really as bad as you said it was, how come they just didn't get out?" Rose asked, still a bit confused.

"Oh, I wouldn't really know now. But there a lot of factors going into a decision to leave. They have to have the right technology, the right agreements, the right resources, and just a whole bunch of other stuff. If even one disagreement or problem comes up, the population would probably just put it off and think of an alternate plan to avoid wasting time. Like they apparently did here," he explained.

"But living underneath the planet doesn't sound exactly safe Doctor. I mean, even with the best research you can never be sure what's beneath. We have homo-reptilia living beneath the Earth and no one really knows unless they work with Torchwood. And I can't believe the atmosphere would be that much better down there where their original environment has been cut off," Rose argued again.

The Doctor puffed out his mouth and sighed. "Exactly. That's the problem. It's not perfectly safe for them all. I mean, it's safer than being up here in the open, but probably not by a huge amount."

Rose looked at the floor. It was hard to believe an entire civilization could be underneath it. It was just too... quiet. She looked back up at the Doctor again. "Right, so how we gonna save the day this time Doctor?"

"Rose, I don't know if it's possible this time. I've pulled some impressive miracles in the past, but getting an entire world back into their real world and transporting them somewhere else, with the risk that by the time they hit the surface they could all possibly drop dead? It's just...it's too much. Unless..." He trailed off.

"Unless what?" Rose asked.

The Doctor was quiet, obviously thinking about his plan. Then, almost frightening Rose, he shouted "that's it! Oh that is too good!"

"What, Doctor? What is it?!" Rose shouted back.

"If I can just get a scan of their DNA, I might be able to produce an anti-toxin to somewhat stabilize the environment. It won't be much and it won't be enough to completely take away the effects of the fire grass. But it will be enough to get them all out. If they agree of course, which I can't be sure they will," the Doctor

"But how are we going to get them all out Doctor? I mean, even with the TARDIS, that's a lot of people. Is it possible?" Rose said. She wanted nothing more than to save these people, but there was no point in even trying if all they were going to do was let an entire world down.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, to which Rose's heart sank. "But we have to at least give them a chance to live."

Hesitantly Rose agreed and they ran back to the TARDIS. The Doctor entered in coordinates and they were off. When they felt it land, the pair got off, only to be greeted by a most miserable sight.

Everything was dark in this place, with only few light sources spread out against the walls. There were little huts spread out taking up most of the already limited space. The walls, ground, and ceiling of the underground planet consisted of nothing more than a brown dirt-like material. The aliens (who resembled humans but with blue skin color and larger heads) all seemed to be dressed in rags. It seemed like the poorest place anyone could have ever lived at.

"See what I meant?" The Doctor asked. "They wanted to live in and had nowhere to go but here. And now they are stuck. What's worse is that the environment isn't bad enough to eventually kill off, so they have to live in the poverty everyday."

"You say that as if it's a bad thing, as if you think they'd rather benefit from being dead though. At least they're alive, right?" Rose said.

"I don't wish they were dead Rose, I don't want to see any race die out. But there comes a point where survival instinct is too strong for the given circumstances, and this might be one of those times," he answered.

Rose didn't answer, she know what the Doctor meant. It was like putting a dog out of its misery: as much as you didn't want to admit that it was the right thing to do, it just was. But these poor people could only count on time to take themselves on and had to deal with passing the problem on to future generations.

"Well, no point in wasting time. Let's go see what we can do," Rose finally spoke up and onward they went.

Walking down the halls, the pair tried to stop some of the aliens to talk to, but they either ignored them or didn't recognize the fact they were being needed. It had been a good hour before they had any luck getting someone's attention and another short time before they had begun gathering information. The chance meeting with a very friendly Mentar (one of the aliens apparently in charge of a community) had been the reason for their success. He guided them through the underground corridors and explained the situation.

"We have been living here for generations now. Even my great grandparents would have been just babies when they would have arrived here. And ever since that time, life has been declining rapidly. There's food shortages, drought, declining oxygen rates. It's rather horrible. The best minds down here have been trying to figure out a way to get out have been working on a solution for ages, but if you ask me I think the small amount of resources we have has stopped the dream of ever leaving. Unless they can make a dirt powered, air tight rocket, there's just no way," he explained.

"There's always a way," the Doctor said. "It just hasn't been found yet."

"Well I do hope you are right... What was your name?" Mentar asked.

"I'm the Doctor," he answered.

"A Doctor, you say? It's been ages since we have had a trained medical man down here. All of them have been drawn away to work on testing. In the meanwhile many die each day. It is quite unfortunate."

"They just took away all the people who could helped? How could they possibly think that would be a good idea?!" Rose exclaimed.

"Our government, or what is left of it, believe it is better to dedicate all of the professional work force to finding a complete solution than saving what we can along the way. I do not agree with it, that is why I refused to go help when I was summoned, however I believe they are desperate to leave and have not realized how little of a chance we have now," Mentar told them.

"Wait, what do you mean you were summoned by them? Are you a doctor? Or a scientist?" Rose questioned.

"I was seen as quite a gifted scientist back in the day. We had very little education as children which hindered many other great minds from appearing, but I showed quite talent for such a young person. The Scientific Order took me in as a sort of apprentice and they trained me. By the end of my time with them I had an even more advanced understanding of the subject than some who had studied it their whole lives. And thanks to it I had a little better of a life than most others.

"Then one day the Order summoned me to help. At first I agreed, figuring I would be able to help our people escape, but after a few days I realized how hopeless the cause was and wanted to go back home to help whoever I could there. Better some than none at all, I figured.

"Well, the Order thought quite differently of course. They thought I was some sort of a traitor and took away all of my accreditations, which caused all the people I knew to turn on me, even my very best friends and colleagues. I was banished to this little community after that. I try to help, but I never did learn much about medicine or anatomy so I am not able to be of much help" said Mentar.

"And what would this Order of yours do if you requested to come back?" asked the Doctor.

"I do not know for I have never asked, but I would think they would laugh in my face and turn me away," Mentar answered.

"If I told you I may have a way to get you and your people out of this place and onto another safe planet, would you be willing to go back to the Order and work with them? I can't promise it will work but I've got this hunch that-" the Doctor started to explain, but was cut off.

"I trust you Doctor. Enough to go back to the ones who have taken almost all from me. I just hope my past foolishness will not hurt any plans you have to help."

"What you did wasn't foolish Mentar. It was what you thought was best. The others were just too scared to see that you were right," Rose comforted, to which Mentar smiled.

"Thank you. When do you wish to start the journey?" he went on.

"We can go now if you want. I believe Rose and I have a shortcut if you can provide the coordinates?"

Mentar nodded yes and the three of them went off to the TARDIS which, even with his apparent extensive background, had shocked Mentar so badly he nearly fainted.

As they stepped off the TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose were appalled to see the differences between this city and the previous slum. Everything was clean here, and protected within a giant white bubble. While it certainly didn't live up to the standards of any higher class cities on Earth, it was still seemingly fanciful and especially neat.

"This is where the Order keeps it's minds. They are kept quite comfortable as you can see, unlike all of our other people, another reason why I left this place. Just ahead there is the experimentation hall, where I will be taking you. With any luck they will take you both in. I am afraid I cannot promise anything, though, like I said before," Mentar went over as they walked on.

"No it will not be the two of us going in, it will be all three. I trust your mind and if they don't want to recognize what you know we can do this in our own way. You saw our machine, I'm sure we could figure something out on our own," the Doctor argued back. The look of seriousness on his face stopped Mentar from arguing back.

After a few minutes the group had arrived at the big white door to the Science Academy. Mentar rang a bell and they waited until a face peaked out of it. A face which was highly surprised and looked just about ready to run back inside without a single word.

"Do not return to the others just yet," Mentar said, stopping the alien man from shutting them out. "I seek audience with the Order. I have just met these two travelers who say they think they can help us, and I truly believe that they will save us."

The man at the door stared at Rose and the Doctor momentarily and looked back at Mentar. "You have been thrown out of the Academy and Order for thinking there was no possibility of escape. Why would you think any differently now?"

"I do not know. But so far it is better than any other lead the Order has come up with so far. Even you must see that," Mentar admitted.

With a brief hesitation, the blue alien let all three in and les them through the magnificent building. When there was finally only a single corridor left to go down and only one door left to pass through, their escort left them.

The Doctor was the first to walk through the door, followed by Rose, and then lastly Mentar. The entire hall (which was filled by around 100 or so beings) became dead silent as they walked in. As the three stopped in the center of the room one seemingly older man stood up.

"We were told you would be coming here quite shortly, and with a solution no less. Tell us, who exactly are you to think that you can come up with a solution that many of the greatest minds living here could not think of," he asked.

"Well first off, it's only the possibility of a solution. I'm afraid I can assure anything yet. And second. I am the Doctor, and this is my companion Rose. Nice to meet you," the Doctor stated, giving a great big grin. The Order did not seem amused it at all by it, though. The room continued to rest in silence, so the Doctor continued. "I believe I may have a way to get all of you out of this terrible place"- he paused, as if his better judgement was telling him to stay quiet about something- "With your DNA samples I may be able to neutralize the poisonous air outside. It won't be for long and it won't be an outstanding difference, but it will be something at least. The only thing I don't have planned yet is how to actually get everyone out. How many people are there living underground, exactly?"

Hushed talking filled the room. Members of the Order were arguing over how many people they had last counted on their census. Whispers turned into loud roses as fights broke out over who was wrong or right. Then the Doctor shouted for everyone to be quiet and the room obeyed.

"Now is there anyone in her that knows for a fact how many people I need to account for if I help you," he yelled. His patience was running out quickly and his temper was burning up.

"8,943 people, Doctor," Mentar spoke gently. "Right down to the last person for sure."

The Doctor gave him a relieved smile in return, then turned back to his massive audience. "Now to get you all out of here, you need a ship. The one I have has the room in it, but I won't have time to pull everyone in at once and it really is best that the smallest amount of people possible get on it. Have you even got some sort of ship that can transport all those people?"

The lead man spoke up again. "We have been working on a ship, however there is not enough room for that amount of people I am afraid. Instead we have been working on teleportation. We used to be experts in the area before we were forced to move underground, but since then it has never worked. We suspect it has something to do with the environmental factors. There may not be a strong enough signal underground to complete the task successfully."

"And what if I told you I that I could probably fix that problem and be able to get you all going?" The Doctor asked.

Everyone in the room was silent again, not by harsh words or obedience though. They were all taken aback with shock. Who could this man be, they all thought, that he could possibly be so better than a hundred extremely well versed scientists?

"Do you mean to tell us all that you are so much better than us. You, a complete stranger with, most likely, very little experience with our civilization, know how to fix a problem we cannot. I do not believe it."

This time it was a random commentator in the crowd who spoke up. He stood shaking, and no one was sure if it was out of fright or just because his old body seemed so feeble. Nonetheless, the Doctor turned on him.

"I am here to help you. All of you. If you can't see that, I'm afraid I should just go now. But I will not just stand here and be called useless by a bunch of stubborn men who can't see that what they are doing is killing their own people. You said that there was just less than 9,000 people still on this planet? And what did that come down from all these years and generations? How many people have you lost with your completely ridiculous "plans"?

"You have this wonderful man here (he pointed to Mentar), and yet you throw him out because he saw common sense! But no no no, if you are going to exile me next, if you are going to throw out the best thing that has ever come to help you, don't expect me to come when I hear you crying. There are innocent people on this planet I will help, because I saw what they are going through - which is more than all you can say, probably. But you all, in your comfy enough houses and nice living conditions, I don't see why any of you would need saving, really. So I'll just be in my way then." Then he stopped and somehow gave each member in the room a menacing glare within less than a few seconds.

Rose was shocked, it had been quite a while since she had seen this side of the Doctor. She was barely able to move when the Doctor nudged her to leave with him, but it was only her heart that was immobile as her feet were being mindlessly dragged out the room. But, as soon as they had passed through the door, she was fully conscious of what was happening and refused to move.

"No," she said, pulling her hand out of the Doctor's. "You can't just leave them here to die, Doctor. That's not right. You can't just decide that for them."

The Doctor, still very angry, snapped back, "Rose, those people in there are horrible. They think just because they know science and have a better mind than others makes them the decision makers, and makes their decisions right even when they aren't. As far as I'm concerned, they are murderers. You can't choose the fate for everyone to live through when it's no good for anyone at all." Then he continued walking away.

"And what exactly are you doing now Doctor? Because it sounds like the same thing to me. Sure, they certainly aren't innocent in this situation, but they don't deserve your death sentence," Rose argued.

The Doctor in his tracks. He knew she was right. And, most annoyingly, she knew he knew she was right. He turned back at Rose with a tired look. Why did he always have to be the one stuck with saving the pinheads who aggravated him so much? But he already knew why and didn't feel like wasting time arguing with himself about it. So he headed back towards the door, prepared to open it, even if begrudgingly. But before he could even grasp the handle, it opened from the other side. The lead Orderman stepped out.

"The Order would like to convey its apologies. If you truly think you can help us, we will gladly accept it," he said, holding out an arm meant for the Doctor to shake.

The Doctor stared at him intently for the tiniest second, then, with a small but warm smile forming on his face, he took the old mans hand and shook it.


	14. Chapter 14

So this is the last part of this particular thrilling saga. I know it was so good right? Right? No? Well I tried my best anyways.

So now we get to see if the Doctor and Rose will be able to save everyone so hold in tight everyone and we will go see now.

And if you wouldn't mind leaving a review or two I wouldn't mind... You know. But it's not like I'm here sitting by my phone checking for some every day. Haha *nervously sweats*

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Doctor Who. I do, however, own a David Tennant stand up poster. But that's the closest I will ever get, probably.

Chapter 14

Within hours of their original meeting, the Doctor had truly proven to the Order how valuable an asset he was. Their plans of how to leave their home world and find another had come further than it had in years and, for once, hope had returned to all.

Between everyone's efforts an actual working plan had been devised: DNA samples would be taken from a few of the alien people an environmental neutralizer would be procured from it. The effects from the tested samples were even smaller than the Doctor had hoped it would be, but it was still enough to get everyone to a new planet. Next, the teleportation device would be fixed and used to bring everyone up to the surface. Almost as soon as he had looked the device, the Doctor knew why it wouldn't work. It was only a planetary teleportation engine and the coordinates of where any person would land would have to be on that same planet. The reason it never worked was because the device was smart enough to sense danger on where the landing would take place and would shut down before any harm could be done. But, between the neutralizer and a little help from the TARDIS, it would finally work again and expand to transport the entire population in one click. Then finally, after a lot of bargaining and begging, the Doctor was able to find a close planet who would take in the whole population of Enslador (the name which the Order had told the Doctor and Rose to use) with their own teleports and bring them to the Shadow Proclamation to find a new planet.

It was a completely great and lucky plan. Apparently, no other people which the Doctor had called for help had agreed because they were not able to find life signs on the planet (their ships not being as strong as the TARDIS, it made sense), and all thought it was a prank call of sorts. By pure luck, the last place the Doctor called was able to pick up the tiniest life signs and and (skeptically) agreed to help. But it was happening, and that was the most important part.

The Doctor and Rose kept smiling at each other, knowing they were achieving the impossible once more. It could have easily been argued that nobody, not even the thousands of people they were saving, were happier than they were. It had been so long since they had been on adventure of this amount, and they couldn't help rejoicing over the fact that they could even still do it. No matter how accustomed they came to be that they were once again together, they would probably never stopped being shocked about it.

The final stages of experimentation were upon them and everything was going perfectly to plan. The neutralizer had been perfected, the teleports had been fixed and magnified, and the rescuers were very nearly there. Yet the fact that it was all happening so quickly alarmed a few, including the Doctor. He knew there must be some sort of mistake about it, but he couldn't seem to find a single one. It was like him feeling he had left something important behind somewhere, but knowing he had everything with him. So he chose to move forward, not wanting to waste another second over something that was probably no use for an alarm. The only thing he could do was pray that he didn't end up hurting an entire civilization in the attempt to save them.

Only a few hours later everything was in place and set to go. A few of the Ordermen had tested out the poison cancelation mixture and were waiting above the surface for the rest, assuring everyone still beneath it would be safe. They also reported of a huge ship hanging over the planet just waiting to take them to safety.

In the final moments before the rescue was set to happen, Rose saw the Doctor working furiously to double, triple, even quadruple check all of the work. She sensed something wasn't right by the his frowning brow, but she figured if he had found anything wrong he would have already said something. And the fact that she didn't find any trouble when checking herself, pushed the thought to the very back of her mind. Everything would be fine-no perfect- about this trip and there would be no convincing her otherwise.

"You ready?" Rose asked the Doctor, finally walking to him.

He stared at the computers through his glasses, then looked up and smiled. "Yep. Everything seems to be in order, so I believe it is time to go!"

The two walked back, hand in hand, to confirm the journey's occurrence. When both agreed their seemed to be no problems, the Order took a final victory applause and went off to let the people in the planet know teleportation would be happening at any moment. As everyone came out, Rose and the Doctor headed back to the TARDIS, planning to meet them all at the surface.

With two final grins, the push of a few buttons and levers, and a great sounding "allons-y!" the TARDIS took off back onto the outer floor of the planet. Taking a quick peak outside through the window, Rose jumped up and down excitedly, seeing huge amounts of the blue aliens appearing right in front of her.

"Care to go outside now for a real view of it all?" The Doctor asked.

"Of course!" Rose agreed, to which she opened the door and walked out, with the Doctor following right behind.

Quickly stepping out in front of Rose, the Doctor examined his work. There were people popping up everywhere: people with huge grins who were just happy to finally be leaving, people frowning at the sight of their old home planet, and people who were scared probably were just waiting for the neutralizer to wear off. All of the different expressions brought a smile to the Doctor's face. He had created these different faces, he thought. If it weren't for him, none of the people standing before him, whether happy, scared, or otherwise, would have been where they were at this moment. None of them would be feeling anything other than hopelessness. It was so great to him that he even forgot about Rose standing near him.

Within another blink of an eye, the same faces the Doctor had just seen seemed to be disappearing. At first it frightened the Doctor. Was it possible something was going wrong, he thought? But then he looked up and saw the trails of the disappearances leading up to the ship just overhead and let go of any fears he had. The plan was working perfectly and there was nothing to worry about.

As the last few bodies were being transported up to the sky, the Doctor stayed and stared at the now empty planet. It felt different now that he knew everyone was safe. Instead of feeling a slight shiver up his back from an insecure planet, he felt a sort of warmer and comforting feeling. It was still a rather depressing sight to look at, but knowing an entire planet wasn't stuck under it made it so much better. Now the only thing missing from this picture of happiness for him was Rose smiling by his side, discussing where their next trip would be. So, planning on doing so, he turned around.

But she wasn't there. Or at least, she wasn't standing there. Right where he had seen Rose last, he now found her on the floor, apparently passed out.

With a sudden jolt of energy, the Doctor ducked down to her, his breathing was becoming ragged and his hands very shaky. He tried shaking Rose awake, but that didn't work, and neither did the few gentle slaps he gave her to the face. Without wanting to waste another second, he scooped her up on his arms and rushed her to the infirmary.

"Come on, come on..." Mumbled the Doctor as he checked for a pulse. Rose was now lying on a bed in a room which highly resembled that of a patient's room in a hospital, but a lot bigger.

The Doctor was struggling to see if Rose's heart was still going with his very shaky hands. Every time he thought he felt a thud he realized it was just the feeling from his pumping fingers. Eventually he just fave up and pulled out his stethoscope, this time he was able to find a stable pulse. The Doctor took a huge breath of relief in before going back to work with 'She isn't dead. She isn't dead..." running through his mind.

Once the Doctor was able to grab all the equipment needed, he did a full body scan of Rose. He had absolutely no clue what could have damaged her this badly and wasn't going to cut any corners.

When the report came back to him minutes later the problem area seemed to be coming from Rose's chest, her lungs to be specific. Apparently the neutralizer had had a bad affect on her lungs, which was causing them to take in less and less breath. The Doctor supposed the oxygen deprivation must have caused her to lose consciousness. According to the information, she was continuing to lose oxygen supply at a frighteningly constant rate.

The Doctor was struggling to think now. He had to make a solution which would reverse the effects of the neutralizer but he just couldn't think of the right combination and anything which could possibly fix the problem seemed to be just as deadly to a human body like Rose's. He paced back me forth through the laboratory set up in the room, trying to find something that would work in time.

Then it came to him. "Of course!" he said. And he rushed, grabbing anything he needed and throwing anything else out of his sight.

He ran with full hands to another nearby station full of tubes and vials and other such instruments. The Doctor measured out each of the liquids and mixed them all together. Then he crushed up a few pills and added them to the mix. When the color of the solution reached a sort of muddy green, he took a syringe and drew it full.

Now returning to Rose, the Doctor checked her heart beat again. It was almost nonexistent now, but he couldn't deny it was still there. Hoping that his plan wouldn't fail, he reached for Rose's left arm and injected the mixture into her vein. Once the syringe was empty he reached for a band aid and wrapped it around her arm. Now that the deed had been done, he only waited.

One minute passed. Then a second went by and carried a third along with it. Eventually a whole ten minutes had dragged by and there was no change.

"Please, Rose. Please wake up. For me. Please!" He begged her, but it changed nothing. Rose was still lying unconscious.

Finally the Doctor gave up on waiting for her to come back. If she was going to die, he just couldn't bring himself to watch while he knew he couldn't do anything for her. He got up, face her a kiss, and and headed towards the door.

Then, just as he was walking out, the Doctor heard it. It wasn't much, but it was the greatest sound he has ever heard. It was a weak cough.

The Doctor jolted back to Rose's bed. She was awake; she was desperately trying to take in air during a massive cough attack, but she was alive.

"Doctor," she breathed, finally in control of her voice.

"Shhh," he whispered back with a smile. "You need to rest. Just sleep okay, and when you wake we can talk."

Rose gave a weak nod in response and fell asleep almost instantly.

Hours later, Rose woke again. Her head hurt a lot and she felt awfully dizzy, but nothing worse. When she opened her eyes, her vision took a few extra seconds to kick in, but it came nonetheless. Except there seemed to be one thing missing from the room which she wondered was a trick of her slight impairment.

"Doctor?" She called out, but nothing' came in response.

"Doctor?!" She called out again.

This time she heard a voice call out "coming" followed by a crashing of what seemed to be dishes, which was then accompanied by a quiet "damn it". Immediately after, the Doctor came into the room with a huge stain on his suit. Rose couldn't help but laugh.

"And what sort of trouble did you get yourself into this time?" She teased.

"I was only trying to make you a nice breakfast. But I think I carried too much at once and well... Long story short we should probably just go out to eat instead. But enough about my mishaps, how are you feeling?"the Doctor asked.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just bit dizzy and my head hurts a terrible amount. But Doctor, why do I feel like that? And why am I in here? I mean I'm not that shocked that about it or anything what with the stuff we do, but I just remember seeing off that planet to safety and then, well just nothing. What happened?" Rose said.

"Just a big mishap on my part. It turns out that the neutralizer canceled out the safer conditions of the firegrass on the human body. You passed out from your lungs shrinking and not being able to take in enough oxygen and hit your head a bit, which is why it's probably hurting. Nothing wrong with it, no bleeding or anything with it, so don't worry about that. But, anyways, I brought you back to the TARDIS and fixed your lungs back up. Took a little while, but you're good. I took a few bodily scans while you were sleeping and you seem to already be fully healed, though you might want to take it easy for a few days. Nothing wrong with just a little precaution," the Doctor answered. He tried to put another smile on his face, but this time it felt almost impossible to.

"Rose I am so sorry I let this happen," he babbled on. "I can't believe I was so careless. I knew there was something wrong and I should have checked again and I was just so stupid about it. I am so sorry and-"

"Doctor," Rose interrupted, taking his face in her hand, "it's fine I promise. And see, I'm fine so no harm no foul. I don't blame you for anything. No plan can ever be perfect and you saved all of those people. How could I be mad at you after that?"

"I was just such a big fool. But I promise it will never happen again," the Doctor replied.

"No, don't promise me that. Because if you say that now, you'll just blame yourself even more the next time it happens. You and I both know the dangers involved in what we do, and promising that I'll always be safe is practically taking away any other chance for a nice big adventure. So I don't accept that promise Doctor. Nothing against you, I just know that nobody could keep that promise while traveling through space and time. Especially people with a nasty habit of always finding trouble."

The Doctor laughed and agreed he would never say anything of the sort again. Then the two left the room and headed towards the console, planning to return home and probably stop by a nice place to eat some breakfast that wouldn't end up on the floor.


End file.
